Pakistan drone-dropped drugs worth Rs 40 crore seized in Jammu

JAMMU: J&K Police and BSF troopers seized on Saturday over 6kg of heroin, worth Rs 40 crore and suspected to have been dropped by a Pakistani drone, near the international border in Jammu’s RS Pura.“Following information about a drone dropping material from across the border, a joint operation by troopers of 165th battalion of BSF and J&K Police was launched. During the search, the drug consignment was recovered from Nai Basti Karotana village in Baspur area of RS Pura,” an official said.The contraband was wrapped in yellow polythene packets, the official said, adding local cops received information about the suspected drone movement late Friday night.Security sources described the seizure as a “big achievement” on the anti-drug trafficking front. It came a day after cops in Kathua, around 85km away, arrested two people for allegedly smuggling heroin dropped from Pakistani drones in border areas.“Further investigation is underway to trace the exact source and destination of the contraband. The police are thoroughly examining both backward and forward linkages in the case,” the official in RS Pura said.

In Kathua, the two men held on Friday were identified as Danish Dogra, a local, and Jatin of Pathankot in neighbouring Punjab. They are accused of smuggling 150gm heroin and being in touch with a Pakistan-based peddler through VoIP calls.On Dec 23 last year, Kathua police had arrested four people, including a drug peddler associated with a Pakistan-based drone-dropped narcotics module. Seizures from them included Rs 5 lakh in cash and over 400gm of heroin allegedly dropped by a drone in the border village of Chhan Tanda in Hiranagar area.