A border resident was arrested with 3.5kg of heroin, worth about Rs 7 crores, in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
The accused, Zaheer Ahmad, a resident of Keran sector of Kupwara district, was arrested from Gangbug area of Srinagar based on specific information, said Senior Superintendent of Police (ANTF) Raj Kumar.
“The arrest of the narcotic smuggler and seizure of commercial quantities of heroin from his possession is a big success for the ANTF,” the officer said.
An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway to expose the backward and forward links of the arrested smuggler.
Kumar said heroin is mostly smuggled from across the border and the police are investigating how the consignment reached this side – whether it was smuggled or airdropped through a drone.
Some more arrests are expected in the case as the investigation progresses, he said, adding that it is a matter of investigation whether the case is linked to narco-terrorism.
Kumar said this year ANTF registered 15 FIRs, mostly related to the seizure of commercial quantities of narcotics from different parts of the Union Territory and arrests of the accused were even made from outside J-K, including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi.
He appealed to the general public to come forward and cooperate with law enforcing agencies in identifying and capturing the drug smugglers to safeguard the younger generation.
“Narcotics is a major threat to our society and we need to join hands to end this menace,” the SSP said.
