In one of the biggest narcotics recoveries along the Line of Control (LoC) in recent years, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday seized five kilograms of high-grade heroin smuggled from across the border in Poonch, officials said.
The seizure was made during a meticulously planned anti-drug operation in Kosalyain village, a forward village in Haveli tehsil near the LoC, they said.
The heroin, smuggled from across the border, was intended to be transported further into the hinterland through an organised cross-border narcotics network.
Officials said the recovered heroin has an estimated international market value of over Rs 25 crore, making it one of the largest drug seizures in the border district in recent years.
Security agencies have repeatedly flagged attempts by Pakistan-based smugglers and handlers to push narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir through border routes, often in conjunction with terror networks to generate funds for anti-national activities.
One suspected smuggler has been arrested in connection with the seizure, officials said. They added that investigations are underway to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, the cross-border handlers involved, and the local network that was to facilitate its transportation and distribution.
Further arrests and recoveries are likely as the investigation progresses, they said.
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir authorities on Saturday demolished several illegally constructed structures, including houses built with proceeds of the narcotics trade in Jammu, officials said.
The demolition drive in Nikki Tawi and Bishnash areas was jointly carried out by the Jammu district administration and police, the officials said.
They said the teams demolished illegal properties worth a cumulative Rs 3 crore linked to drug trafficking, besides recovering heroin and illegal weapons from the accused.
At Ismailpur Kothey in Bishnah tehsil, a joint team demolished a double-storey structure valued at about Rs 1.5 crore, the officials said.
Similarly, another joint team demolished properties belonging to two more drug peddlers with an approximate value of around Rs 1.3 crore, besides vacating illegally encroached land at Nikki Tawi area, they said.
In another case in Samba district, the police attached property valued at about Rs 21 lakh, including a ‘kaccha’ house belonging to a notorious woman drug peddler at Upper Balole in Bari Brahmana area, a police spokesman said.
He said the action was taken under the relevant section of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The property was identified as illegally acquired during the course of an investigation conducted by police, the spokesman said.