Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said that at least 217 drug peddlers have been arrested and narcotics worth over Rs 7 crore recovered so far this year.

PTI report quoted a police official saying that “as part of its crackdown on drug peddling, the Baramulla police has registered 144 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the first five months of this year.”

According to PTI, 217 drug peddlers have been arrested so far. Twenty-three of them, who are habitual drug peddlers, have been booked under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act and the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Contraband worth crores of rupees in the black market has been recovered, said police.

The police official said 2.625 kg of brown sugar worth about Rs 3.41 crore and 2.419 kg of heroin worth Rs 3.14 crore in the black market have been recovered. Charas, poppy straw and cannabis powder have also been recovered.

Rs 43.90 lakh in cash and 15 vehicles were seized, he said. The total value of the recoveries made so far stands at Rs 7,69,91,000, the police said.

They requested residents of Baramulla to come forward with information on drug peddlers in their areas to help eradicate the menace of drugs from the society.
The identity of those providing information will be kept secret, the police said.

Nearly 1,700 alleged drug peddlers were arrested in Kashmir in 2022 as part of a concerted drive against the substance abuse in the Valley which has assumed alarming proportions, police told PTI earlier.

A huge quantity of contraband substances, cash, arms and ammunition were also recovered during this period (2022).

“Police in Kashmir valley have registered 1,021 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, arrested 1,685 drug peddlers including 138 notorious drug peddlers who have been detained under PIT-NDPS Act during 2022,” a police spokesman told PTI in January this year.

(With inputs from PTI)

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