Narco-terror emerges as major concern for agencies in Jammu and Kashmir

Over Rs 100 crore worth heroin recovered in one week along Line of Control

The seizure of huge quantities of heroin in the last one week has once again shown how narco-terror in Kashmir has become a major concern for the law enforcing agencies.

On April 14, a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir police, Army and the Border Security Forces (BSF) foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) and an attempt to smuggle narcotics in north Kashmir’s Kupwara. The team claimed to have recovered 10 kilograms of narcotics putting its approximate value at Rs 50 crore in the international market.

A similar consignment of deadly heroin, with estimated market value, as per the police, somewhere between Rs 50-60 crore, was seized on April 8 along the LoC in the same district.

On January 21, a huge consignment of Afghan grade heroin and opium worth six crores in the international market was recovered by the police in Qaimoh area of south Kashmir Anantnag district.

As per the data available with J&K Police, in 2020 alone, 36.08 kilograms of pure heroin and 49.7 kilograms of brown sugar were recovered from different parts of the Valley.

These recoveries, police say, have clearly shown that the cross border narco-terror threat has become a major area of concern in Kashmir.

Also read: ICG apprehends Pakistan boat with 30 kg heroin

“In the wake of a serious crackdown by the law enforcement agencies against the Hawala operators, Pakistan-based agencies use LoC route to send narcotics to fund the terrorism and unrest in the Valley. Since early 2019 when the cross LoC trade was shut down, narco-trade has become the exclusive route to finance terrorism and unrest in Kashmir,” a senior police officer told DH.

He said narco-terrorism in Kashmir seems to have a plausible reason for its growth since Pakistan-backed terror operatives in the valley have a readymade network of over ground workers (OGWs) in border areas who have been acting as couriers of arms/ammunition, fake currency etc in the recent past.

Kashmir police chief, Vijay Kumar, said the drug menace is as big a challenge as militancy. “Large quantities of narcotics are being pumped into the Valley from across the border. It is quite clear who is pumping drugs and narcotics here. Our focus is not only on fighting terrorism but on fighting drug trafficking and drug abuse too,” he said.

The arrival of such deadly drugs has resulted in heroin abuse showing an alarming increase in Kashmir in recent years. From 15 per cent heroin abuse recorded in 2016, it has now gone up to 90 per cent, said doctors at a government de-addiction centre in Srinagar

According to Dr Yasir Rather, a consulting psychiatrist at Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, most of the drug abusers reporting at the hospital in the last few years are heroin addicts and their number is increasing constantly.

“Almost 90 per cent of drug abusers coming for treatment are those who consume deadly heroin. Even as young as 14-year-old patients are coming to seek help which is more alarming,” he told DH.