J&K: Anantnag Police Launch Major Anti-Narcotics Operation in Waghama, Detain 13 Suspected Peddlers

Anantnag Police on Saturday carried out a large-scale Narco CASO (Cordon and Search Operation) at 20 different locations in Waghama, an area identified as a major drug hotspot in the district. According to an official police statement, the coordinated operation resulted in 13 suspected drug peddlers being taken into custody for questioning and further legal proceedings. The operation was conducted with the objective of locating individuals linked to the local narcotics trade, dismantling the network and disrupting the supply chain responsible for the circulation of illegal drugs.

Police said the extensive crackdown demonstrates their continued zero-tolerance policy towards drug trafficking and peddling. Authorities have been conducting sustained and intelligence-driven operations against individuals and organised networks suspected of supplying narcotics. “Anantnag Police will continue such intensified and intelligence-based operations against narco networks to protect the youth and realise the goal of a Drug-Free Anantnag,” the police said in the statement.

The latest action comes amid intensified efforts by security and law-enforcement agencies to curb the movement of narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir. On September 5, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Jammu Zonal Unit reported that it had uncovered two separate heroin-smuggling routes connected to the region. The NCB said four interceptions in the Jammu Division, along with a linked operation in Punjab, resulted in the combined seizure of 6.920 kg of heroin. Investigators identified one route involving direct smuggling from Pakistan through the Uri sector, while another involved the movement of narcotics through Punjab.

According to the agency, two of the operations were conducted in drug-affected bastis in the Jammu-Samba belt. In the most recent action on September 3, NCB officials stopped a passenger bus near the New Bus Stand in Samba and recovered 522 grams of heroin from a passenger who was a resident of Kakapora in Pulwama district. Investigators subsequently traced the consignments backward linkage to Ludhiana in Punjab. A follow-up operation there led to the recovery of an additional 197 grams of heroin.

The linked Samba-Ludhiana investigation has so far resulted in the seizure of 719 grams of heroin, while further investigations are underway to identify other individuals allegedly involved in the wider supply and distribution network. The successive operations by Anantnag Police and the NCB highlight the growing focus of law-enforcement agencies on disrupting narcotics networks, tracing supply routes and preventing drugs from reaching vulnerable communities and young people in Jammu and Kashmir.

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