Jammu:
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 6.920 kilograms of herion in separate operations in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two weeks, with four people linked to the seizures arrested, officials said.
Officials said the drug busts over the past two weeks have exposed a worrying trend, with heroin reaching Jammu not only through the Line of Control in Kashmir but also through the Punjab border.
According to NCB officials, traffickers are using both the Punjab-Jammu corridor and the Uri sector in north Kashmir to smuggle drugs, including heroin.
An NCB spokersperson said officials intercepted a bus headed for Jammu near the New Bus Stand in Samba on September 3 and recovered 522 grams of heroin from a passenger. The bus had arrived from Punjab, he said.
During the investigation, the NCB team reached Ludhiana, where another 197 grams of heroin was seized on September 4. Aaqib Bashir, a resident of Pulwama’s Kakapora village, was arrested in connection with the case.
Officials said efforts are on to identify and arrest other members of the network.
Earlier, on August 22, officials seized 5.160 kilograms of heroin from a vehicle in Jammu city’s Panjtirthi area. The consignment had entered Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan via the Uri sector, officials claimed.
The probe in the case extended to Ladakh, where three Baramulla residents were arrested in Leh.
A total of 6.920 kilograms of heroin was seized in the two operations.
Meanwhile, an NCB spokesperson said 438 grams and 603 grams of heroin were recovered in two separate operations in Jammu and Samba.
Officials said the agency’s strategy is to trace narcotics from their source to their final destination in order to dismantle entire traficking networks.
Investigations are underway to identify the source, buyers, financiers and other associates involved, and to establish possible interstate and cross-border links, they said.
According to officials, Pakistan is attempting to push drugs into Jammu and Kashmir with the aim of trapping local youth in addiction and steering them toward terrorism.
“Youth are the backbone of the nation. Pakistan wants to break it by getting the youth addicted to drugs. But it will not succeed,” former J&K Director General of Police SP Vaid said.
Officials said the issue goes beyond drug abuse. Money generated through the drug trade is often used to fund terrorism, they said.
A senior official said the proceeds of narcotics trafficking are used to procure weapons for killings. Every rupee earned from drugs can ultimately translate into bullets used to take lives. That is why people must reject drugs, he said.
