The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) discovered heroin valued at Rs 25 crore in the international market near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. This seizure marks one of the largest narcotics recoveries along the LoC in recent years. The operation took place in village Kosalyain, a forward village in Haveli tehsil, near the LoC, as part of an anti-drug initiative.
The heroin, smuggled from across the border, was intended for further transportation into the hinterland through an organized cross-border narcotics network. The estimated international market worth of the seized heroin exceeds Rs 25 crore, making it a significant drug recovery in the border district recently. Security agencies have been vigilant about Pakistan-based smugglers and handlers attempting to push narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir through border routes, sometimes in collaboration with terror networks to fund anti-national activities.
A suspected smuggler has been apprehended in connection with the recovery, with ongoing investigations to identify the consignment’s intended recipients, the cross-border handlers, and the local network involved in facilitating its transportation and distribution. As the investigation progresses, more arrests and recoveries are anticipated. Intelligence agencies suggest that funds from cross-border drug smuggling, hawala money rackets, and other financial scams are channeled to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
While local police and security forces conduct anti-smuggling operations in the hinterland, the army and the Border Security Force (BSF) are stationed on the LoC and international border to monitor cross-border smuggling, infiltration, exfiltration, and drone activities originating from the Pakistan side.
