J-K: Anti-narcotics drive launched across South Kashmir

Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 5 (ANI): The Excise Department, along with Jammu & Kashmir Police, has launched an anti-narcotics (cannabis destruction) drive across several areas of South Kashmir along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway to eradicate the menace of drugs.
Excise Department J&K official Mohammad Amin Bhat told ANI on Saturday, "We have destroyed around 350 kanals of wild cannabis... The efforts include cleaning hotspots along the highway from Bijbehara to Sangam and beyond..."
In July, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of Srinagar Zone uncovered a major drug smuggling racket in south Kashmir, along with the arrest of two individuals, including a former militant and the seizure of 39 kilograms of poppy straw, as per an official statement.
According to officials, the operation was launched based on specific intelligence inputs and carried out in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district on July 8 and 9.
During the initial raid, NCB teams recovered approximately 28 kilograms of poppy straw. Further questioning led to the recovery of an additional 11 kilograms from the residence of Shabir on July 9. Investigations revealed that Shabir is a former member of the banned outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and had been arrested earlier in 1996 on charge of terror-related activities, before he was released in 2004.
Amin, the second accused, also has a history of involvement in narcotics-related crimes. He was previously booked in two NDPS cases: one in 2017 at Police Station Indaura in Himachal Pradesh, and another in Anantnag's Srigufwara area involving the seizure of 523 kilograms of poppy straw. He is currently out on bail in both cases.
NCB officials said that preliminary findings point to a well-organised narcotics network that sources contraband from local poppy cultivators and transports it across states using illegal routes. (ANI)