Nikhil Laur
For years, narcotics trafficking in Jammu and Kashmir was viewed largely through the lens of cross-border smuggling. Security agencies repeatedly warned that heroin and other substances were being pushed into the region through the International Border and the Line of Control, often with the help of drone drops and small courier networks.
But recent enforcement data suggests the problem is no longer confined to the border alone. Alongside cross-border smuggling, investigators are increasingly uncovering domestic trafficking routes connecting the Union Territory to suppliers in other Indian states, creating a more complex narcotics network than previously understood.
Government data presented in Parliament shows that law-enforcement agencies seized substantial quantities of narcotic substances in Jammu and Kashmir over the last four years. According to figures compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the total quantity of drugs seized in the Union Territory stood at 19,345 kilograms in 2022, before declining to 10,307 kilograms in 2023, 5,219 kilograms in 2024, and 4,019 kilograms by November 2025.
This downward trend could indicate stronger enforcement and tighter monitoring, particularly along vulnerable border zones. However, officials caution that lower seizure numbers do not automatically mean trafficking has reduced. In many cases, declining seizures may also reflect changing smuggling tactics that make narcotics harder to intercept.
Border Still a Major Entry Point
Cross-border smuggling remains one of the most visible sources of narcotics entering Jammu and Kashmir. In several recent cases, security agencies recovered heroin believed to have been sent from across the border.
In 2025, the Border Security Force and the Narcotics Control Bureau jointly seized heroin worth nearly ₹50 lakh near the Miran Sahib sector in Jammu. In another operation the same year, police dismantled a Pakistan-linked narco network and recovered nearly 5 kilograms of heroin.
Investigators say traffickers have increasingly shifted from traditional couriers to drones, using low-flying unmanned devices to drop packets in agricultural fields and remote areas close to the border.
These cases reinforce a long-standing concern among security officials that narcotics trafficking is not only a criminal issue in Jammu and Kashmir but also a border-security challenge.
Domestic Supply Chains Are Expanding
At the same time, recent arrests show that a growing share of the narcotics trade is being sustained through interstate routes within India.
In one case, the Narcotics Control Bureau uncovered an inter-state module operating in Kashmir and recovered over 2.7 kilograms of charas. Investigators traced links to suppliers outside the Union Territory, highlighting how local networks are increasingly connected to distribution chains in northern India. Police officials have repeatedly pointed to trafficking links with states such as Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, where synthetic drugs and pharmaceutical substances are often routed into Jammu and Kashmir through passenger vehicles, courier systems and informal networks.
The emergence of these internal supply chains has complicated enforcement because the region is no longer dealing with a single source of narcotics. Instead, agencies now face what officers describe as a “dual corridor” one crossing the international border and another moving through domestic transport routes.
Rising Enforcement Pressure
The scale of enforcement also reflects the growing challenge. Jammu district alone registered 204 NDPS cases and 311 arrests in 2025, while police reported heroin seizures valued at nearly ₹60 crore, according to Jammu and Kashmir Police records.
Across the Union Territory, anti-narcotics operations have become more aggressive, with police targeting both street-level peddlers and larger trafficking networks. Officials say the strategy has shifted from merely seizing drugs to identifying the financial and logistical networks that sustain the trade.
A Changing Drug Landscape
What makes the current situation more concerning is the changing nature of the substances being intercepted. Alongside heroin, agencies are reporting larger seizures of: Synthetic drugs,
Pharmaceutical opioids, Cannabis derivatives, Psychotropic tablets. These substances often move through different supply chains, making the trafficking ecosystem more fragmented and difficult to track. For policymakers, the challenge now extends beyond border management. It also includes interstate intelligence-sharing, addiction treatment and stronger monitoring of pharmaceutical distribution.
The data suggests that Jammu and Kashmir’s narcotics problem can no longer be understood as only a cross-border issue. While Pakistan linked smuggling continues to pose a threat, domestic trafficking networks are increasingly shaping the region’s drug economy.
The numbers may show a decline in total seizures, but the routes feeding the trade appear to be
multiplying. And in that shift lies the deeper concern: the drug problem in Jammu and Kashmir is no longer coming from just one direction.
The writer is a student of M.A. in New Media Communications at the Indian Institute of
Mass Communication (IIMC), Jammu
