Jammu, July 18 (IANS) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday recovered heroin worth Rs 25 crore in the international market near the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.
Officials said that it was one of the biggest narcotics recoveries along the Line of Control (LoC) in recent years.
The seizure was made during a meticulously planned anti-drug operation in village Kosalyain, a forward village in Haveli tehsil, close to the LoC, they said.
The heroin, which had been smuggled from across the border, was meant to be transported further into the hinterland through an organised cross-border narcotics network.
The estimated international market value of the recovered heroin is over Rs 25 crore, making it one of the largest drug recoveries in the border district in recent years, officials said.
Security agencies have repeatedly flagged attempts by Pakistan-based smugglers and handlers to push narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir using border routes, often in conjunction with terror networks to generate funds for anti-national activities.
One suspected smuggler was arrested in connection with the recovery, officials said, adding 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 probe progresses, officials said.
Intelligence agencies believe that the funds generated by cross-border drug smuggling, hawala money rackets and other financial scams are finally used to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
While local police and the security forces carry out anti-smuggling operations in the hinterland, the army and the Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed on the LoC and the international border to check cross-border smuggling, infiltration, exfiltration and drone activities initiated from across the border from Pakistan side.
–IANS
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