<p>With the drug menace assuming frightening proportions in the restive Himalayan region, special wing of the Jammu and Kashmir police has launched a major crackdown to curb narcotics smuggling.</p>.<p>Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), a specialized unit of J&K police to check the rising menace of drugs, has arrested 1,232 drug peddlers and lodged 867 FIRs since its inception in 2020. During the period, the ANTF also foiled many attempts of the inter-state drug peddlers with timely inputs provided by the intelligence agencies.</p>.<p>The ANTF deals with the emerging threats of narco-terrorism in the Union Territory. According to official data, 574 drug peddlers were arrested in 2021 and 658 in the first nine months of 2022. In just nine months of this year, 84 more FIRs were registered in drug peddling cases than in 2021.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/major-crackdown-against-drug-cartels-cbi-ncb-multiple-state-police-register-127-cases-arrest-175-1149277.html" target="_blank">Major crackdown against drug cartels: CBI, NCB, multiple state police register 127 cases, arrest 175</a></strong></p>.<p>There are frequent seizures of consignments of heroin coming from Pakistan. While a portion of the drugs coming from Pakistan is sold in Kashmir, the rest is transported into other parts of India.</p>.<p>“61.02 kg of deadly Heroin was seized in the first three quarters of 2022 while 6.03 kg of heroin was seized during the same period last year,” the data reveals, indicating a steep rise in heroin smuggling cases in the union territory.</p>.<p>An official of the ANTF said they have increased the vigil and are working in coordination with other security agencies to put an end to the drug peddling and narcotic smuggling attempts.</p>.<p>“In many cases, we have found that the funds collected through the narcotics were used to fuel terror in J&K. However, the alertness of the J&K Police has foiled such attempts,” he said and added the ANTF teams have successfully seized narcotics before the consignments could be smuggled to different destinations outside J&K.</p>.<p>Law enforcement agencies blame Pakistan for pumping huge quantities of narcotics into Kashmir. “Lot of drugs and narcotics are being pumped into the Valley from across the border. Pakistan is targeting youngsters by making them habitual to drugs,” J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh said.</p>.<p>“Pakistan is repeating the same dirty game in Kashmir that they played in Punjab - first giving arms training and later spoiling the youth with drugs,” he added.</p>
<p>With the drug menace assuming frightening proportions in the restive Himalayan region, special wing of the Jammu and Kashmir police has launched a major crackdown to curb narcotics smuggling.</p>.<p>Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), a specialized unit of J&K police to check the rising menace of drugs, has arrested 1,232 drug peddlers and lodged 867 FIRs since its inception in 2020. During the period, the ANTF also foiled many attempts of the inter-state drug peddlers with timely inputs provided by the intelligence agencies.</p>.<p>The ANTF deals with the emerging threats of narco-terrorism in the Union Territory. According to official data, 574 drug peddlers were arrested in 2021 and 658 in the first nine months of 2022. In just nine months of this year, 84 more FIRs were registered in drug peddling cases than in 2021.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/major-crackdown-against-drug-cartels-cbi-ncb-multiple-state-police-register-127-cases-arrest-175-1149277.html" target="_blank">Major crackdown against drug cartels: CBI, NCB, multiple state police register 127 cases, arrest 175</a></strong></p>.<p>There are frequent seizures of consignments of heroin coming from Pakistan. While a portion of the drugs coming from Pakistan is sold in Kashmir, the rest is transported into other parts of India.</p>.<p>“61.02 kg of deadly Heroin was seized in the first three quarters of 2022 while 6.03 kg of heroin was seized during the same period last year,” the data reveals, indicating a steep rise in heroin smuggling cases in the union territory.</p>.<p>An official of the ANTF said they have increased the vigil and are working in coordination with other security agencies to put an end to the drug peddling and narcotic smuggling attempts.</p>.<p>“In many cases, we have found that the funds collected through the narcotics were used to fuel terror in J&K. However, the alertness of the J&K Police has foiled such attempts,” he said and added the ANTF teams have successfully seized narcotics before the consignments could be smuggled to different destinations outside J&K.</p>.<p>Law enforcement agencies blame Pakistan for pumping huge quantities of narcotics into Kashmir. “Lot of drugs and narcotics are being pumped into the Valley from across the border. Pakistan is targeting youngsters by making them habitual to drugs,” J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh said.</p>.<p>“Pakistan is repeating the same dirty game in Kashmir that they played in Punjab - first giving arms training and later spoiling the youth with drugs,” he added.</p>
