Beneath political turmoil, drug abuse in Kashmir growing by the day

Substance abuse has been prevalent in the Valley since the 1980s. Lately, however the issue has spiralled

On January 31, the Jammu and Kashmir police arrested two local peddlers in Kupwara with almost 19 kilograms of brown sugar worth Rs 80 million in the international market. “The narco-smuggling network in regions like Kupwara is so intricate that every month, we confiscate twice or thrice such consignments, and each consignment consists of a kilogram of narcotics, at least,” said Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar, SSP Kupwara.

“We intercepted a Tata Sumo vehicle and recovered 19 kilograms of narcotics substance from the possession of two men, namely Zameer Raina and Riyaz Badan – residents of Amrohi, Karnah,” Ambarkar added.

Although cannabis –though illegal