Jammu, Sep 21: A senior official of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) stated here on Thursday that a border resident had been detained along with 3.5 kilos of heroin valued at roughly Rs 7 crore. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (ANTF) Raj Kumar, Zaheer Ahmad, a native of the Keran sector of the Kupwara district in north Kashmir, was apprehended based on specific information from the Gangbug neighbourhood of Srinagar. “The narcotic smuggler’s arrest and the seizure of commercial quantities of heroin from his possession is a big success for the ANTF,” the officer said, adding that a FIR had been filed and that additional research to uncover the arrested smuggler’s backward and forward connections was ongoing.He stated that most heroin is smuggled from the other side of the border and that “we are looking into details how the consignment reached this side – whether it was smuggled or airdropped through a drone.” He added that it is under investigation whether the crime is connected to narco-terrorism and that additional arrests are anticipated in the case as the inquiry moves forward. According to Kumar, this year the ANTF filed 15 FIRs, the majority of which involved the seizure of large amounts of illegal drugs from various Union Territory locations. Arrests of the accused were also made outside of J-K, in places like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Delhi.“The assets and properties that the smugglers raised are being located and seized. The same procedure will be used in this instance, he added, adding that several bank accounts had also been stopped. To protect the next generation, he made a plea to the people to come out and assist law enforcement agencies in finding and apprehending drug smugglers. The SSP stated that “narcotics are a serious threat to our society and we need to work together to end this menace.
