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| Drug mafia’s new game plan: couples, women used as ‘safe carriers’ to evade police crackdown | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 2: In a disturbing shift in tactics, the drug mafia in Jammu and Kashmir has begun using women and couples as frontline carriers to smuggle and distribute narcotics, in a calculated attempt to outsmart an intensified police crackdown across the Union Territory.
The latest revelation comes in the wake of the arrest of a woman drug supplier from North Kashmir, who was allegedly part of a network trafficking narcotics smuggled from across the border. Investigators believe her arrest is just the tip of the iceberg, exposing a deeper and more organised nexus that is rapidly evolving to dodge law enforcement.
Police officials say that as authorities have tightened the noose around traditional drug networks, traffickers have started deploying women—often along with their spouses—as “low-suspicion couriers” to quietly move contraband across districts.
“Ever since we launched an aggressive campaign against drug trafficking, the mafia has been constantly changing its methods. Now they are increasingly using women and couples to avoid detection. But we are adapting our strategy and will thwart these attempts with the support of society,” a senior police officer said.
While the involvement of women in drug peddling is not entirely new, officials admit that the recent trend of couples working together marks a significant and alarming development. In one such case, a couple was arrested from the outskirts of Jammu city, exposing how deeply the network has penetrated urban fringes.
The woman in the case, originally from Rajasthan and settled in Jammu for several years, had a long criminal history. Multiple cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act had been registere “Ever since we launched an aggressive campaign against drug trafficking, the mafia has been constantly changing its methods. Now they are increasingly using women and couples to avoid detection. But we are adapting our strategy and will thwart these attempts with the support of society,”
Given her repeated involvement, stringent action was taken against her under the Public Safety Act (PSA), signalling a tougher stance by law enforcement against habitual offenders.
Investigations further reveal a troubling pattern: a large number of women arrested alongside their husbands are outsiders residing in the outskirts of Jammu. Many of these couples, police say, are themselves drug addicts who were lured or coerced into the trade by organised networks exploiting their vulnerability and financial distress.
“These networks prey on addiction and desperation. Once trapped, these individuals are used as carriers to push drugs into local markets,” an official said.
Authorities believe that such couples are being strategically deployed to maintain supply lines within Jammu and Kashmir, especially at a time when intensified surveillance and enforcement have disrupted traditional trafficking routes.
The changing face of the drug trade has posed fresh challenges for law enforcement agencies, forcing them to recalibrate their strategies and intelligence mechanisms. Police have now begun focusing on identifying these unconventional carriers and dismantling the networks that recruit and exploit them.
With the drug menace continuing to evolve, officials stress that public cooperation will be crucial in breaking the chain.
“The fight against drugs is no longer just a policing issue—it requires collective vigilance. We are determined to break this network, no matter how it reshapes itself,” the officer asserted. |
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