13 kg heroin seized in 2 days in J-K, two held

Two alleged drug peddlers were arrested Friday with eight kg of heroin-like substance smuggled from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, police said.

This came a day after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 5 kg of heroin from a forward area near the Suchetgarh Border Observation Post in a joint operation with BSF.

A Jammu-bound vehicle was intercepted on Friday near Chenani in Udhampur district during checking on Jammu-Srinagar national highway and the heroin-like substance was seized, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Udhampur Rajiv Pandey said.

Siraj Ahmad and Javid Ahmad Shah, both residents of Qazigund in south Kashmir, have been arrested, in connection with the seizure, Pandey said, adding a sample of the seized consignment has been sent to the forensic science laboratory and the market value of the substance will be evaluated after the report comes in.

The SSP said during interrogation, the accused revealed that they were in contact with their cross-border supplier and were getting directions about further delivery of consignment from there.

On Thursday morning, the joint team of DRI and the BSF combed the forward area near the Suchetgarh Border Observation Post and found 5 kg of heroin in plastic pouches of 1 kg each concealed in thickets very close to the international border, an official release said Friday.

It said the DRI and BSF had jointly developed intelligence that drug smugglers from Pakistan had hatched a conspiracy to enter the Indian side of border in Jammu area taking advantage of darkness and wild vegetation and to conceal the heroin in thickets and bushes to be revealed by drug syndicates on Indian side.