With militancy on last legs, narcotics trade emerges as next challenge for Jammu & Kashmir police

With militancy on its last legs, eradication of rampant drug abuse has become the next challenge for Jammu and Kashmir police.

From the public circles to government and security agencies, the spike in drug addiction cases in Muslim majority Kashmir, otherwise essentially conservative, has put almost everyone on the tenterhooks.

One of the costliest narcotics -heroin – costing around Rs seven crore per kilogram in the national grey markets –is being pushed into Kashmir via the Line of Control (LoC).

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh says as the Union Territory (UT) is moving towards becoming a “terror free region”, the police will now take on drug challenge tooth-and-nail.

“Terrorism is at an all-time low and the number of terrorists is very low. The police will now take on the challenge of drug menace and will ensure to eradicate drug abuse and narco-smuggling from J&K,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

A survey carried by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS on the magnitude of substance use in India placed J&K on 5th spot and revealed that over six lakh people in the UT were affected by drugs.

Gauging the gravity of the problem, in 2020, J&K government set up the Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) to tackle the emerging threat of the narco-terrorism in the region.

The narco-terror plot got exposed largely in 2017 when police seized 66.5 kilograms of heroin worth Rs 300 crore from a truck that originated from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The truck which was part of cross-LoC trade, started between divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir in 2008, was purportedly carrying boxes full of garments, but hidden among the boxes were packets of narcotics.

The government had approved 21 items for export and import that majorly included dry fruits, fruit spices and embroidery items. The trade was based on a barter system (exchanging goods for goods) and currency was not involved.

However, on 19 April, 2019, the Union Ministry of Home suspended the cross-LoC trade citing misuse of the trade routes by Pakistan-based elements for funneling weapons, fake currency and narcotics.