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| Is fruit season in Kashmir a boon for narco-smugglers? | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, Mar 10: Fruit season in Kashmir is proving to be a great boon for narco-smugglers. In the past over a month or so, several attempts to clandestinely take contrabands in fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir to other parts of the country were foiled by the law enforcing agencies.
The arrested smugglers, who were from Punjab and Kashmir, disclosed to police that the charas, heroin, cocaine and other drugs, seized from them, were meant for lucrative markets in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Over two quintals of charas and 5,000 kilograms of poppy straw, besides marijuana and cocaine, were recovered from the trucks since Febarary last. These contrabands were found hidden underneath apple boxes and battens.
A police officer said the smugglers became active every year during fruit season as their "unobstructed" movement was allowed on the pretext that delay caused due to checking could lead to the decaying of apples and other fruit. Over 148 kg charas, 2,100 kg poppy straw worth crores were seized by sleuths of excise department at Lakhanpur toll post from two trucks on March 3. The consignment was concealed beneath apple boxes. On March 2, over 1,000 kilograms of opium straw was seized by police from three trucks on the national highway. About 1,100 kg poppy straw was seized from a truck at Hatli Morh last month.
In other incidents, about 50 kg charas and 1,000 kg poppy straw were seized from different areas, including the general bus stand, here.
The officer said strict instructions had been issued to police to check fruit trucks as it was necessary to build pressure on smugglers.
These contrabands originated from Pakistan and Afghanistan and were smuggled into Jammu and Kashmir from across the borders, he added.
A consignment of 15 kilograms of heroin worth Rs 75 cr was smuggled into the border Khour area of Akhnoor by a Pakistani and handed over to two Khour residents.
The officer said though the two Khour residents were arrested, the Pakistani had managed to cross back to his territory. The seized heroin packets bore markings of Afghanistan and Pakistan.With these seizures, it seems as if the state is emerging as a safe transit point and a smuggling route for drug peddlers, a fact that is acquiring sharp focus since the arrest of senior J&K cadre IPS officer in Mumbai last year on drug smuggling charges.The officer said said despite the foiling of several smuggling attempts by agencies, many narcotic smugglers were said to have crossed the state from Lakhanpur by concealing contrabands in their costly cars.
This became known Saturday last when anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of Mumbai police arrested Abdul Rehman alias Haji Ali Mohammad Hakim, a Kashmiri youth, allegedly with a huge quantity of narcotics which he was carrying in his Honda City car. He was said to have transported the consignment in his car from Kashmir to Mumbai.
His interrogation led the ANC men to a drug racket that had its roots in the state, the officer added, saying a Mumbai police team was likely to visit the state in this regard soon.
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