Time to curb narco-terrorism
The Jammu and Kashmir has virtually slipped into the tight grip of narco-terrorism with unbated smuggling of habit-forming drugs from across the border taking a heavy toll on the youths, particularly teenagers, in the Union Territory. The UT seems to have emerged as a major destination and transit point for smuggling of ganja, hashish, heroin and ‘tablets of all types’, going by the staggering catch in the last couple of years.
The large seizure of narcotic drugs like ganja, hashish, heroin and poppy straw from Jammu and Kashmir, which shares International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, indicates that the flow of drugs into the UT from across the border remained unabated, notwithstanding the claims of drug law enforcement agencies (DLEAs) to have launched a crackdown on drug mafia. A staggering catch of around 2,000 kg ganja (1,342 kg in 2020 and 642 kg in 2021) and over 1,900 kg (927 kg in 2020 and 975.29 kg in 2021) during the last two years shows that J&K has become a major destination and transit point for smuggling of these narcotic drugs.
According to the data published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), as many as 1173 cases were registered and 1,884 persons were arrested under the NDPS Act during the year 2019 in J&K, while the number of cases registered went up to 1,222 in 2020 and the persons arrested were 1564 for the period.
The DLEAs have also seized 355.15 kg of heroin (196.15 kg alone in 2021) in two years while the quantity of seized poppy straw was quite staggering for the period as 43,046 kg poppy straw was recovered from drug smugglers”. A majority of drug peddlers arrested by the police have admitted that Punjab was their last destination, but they usually sold some portion of their consignments in J&K, particularly Jammu province.
Pertinently, the government had introduced the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) in 2016 to have effective coordination of actions among various ministries, departments, central and states law enforcement agencies against narcotic drugs.
Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) comprising of Central and State Authorities has been set up to monitor the investigations in case of large seizure of drugs while Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Railway Protection Force (RPF) and other forces have been empowered under the Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act for making interdiction of narcotic drugs. Moreover, Director General (DG) level talks are being held with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to discuss and resolve the various drug related issues.
