Jammu & Kashmir crackdown drives addicts toward prescription opioids, network bust yields major arrests
Police say drug users in Jammu & Kashmir are increasingly using prescription painkillers as the Nasha Mukt crackdown intensifies, seizing over 2 lakh tablets and arresting eight suspects, including Haris Hameed Malla.
Since its April 11 launch, the Nasha Mukt Abhiyaan drive in Jammu & Kashmir aims to make the union territory narcotics-free, combining raids, poppy-crop destruction and driver drug tests. Police report that addicts are increasingly turning to pharmaceutical opioids, especially Tramadol and Tapentadol, mixing them to achieve heroin-like effects. The operation has recovered 2,19,425 tablets and capsules and 3.830 kg of codeine-based liquid, and resulted in over 4,000 arrests and 288 property seizures.
On Thursday, Srinagar police busted a major supply chain, arresting eight individuals, including Haris Hameed Malla, who was identified as a key figure in a network allegedly headed by Waseem Ahmad Zargar. Malla, who posted images with Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Chirag Paswan, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and NC MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, also claimed to be editor-in-chief of “India News Panel” and shared a purported letter from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
After fleeing the valley, he was tracked to Bengaluru and detained; a house and two vehicles in the Old City were attached. Officials say the case underscores growing one outlet's reports of a widening drug menace.
Why it matters
The story shows how a drug crackdown can shift abuse to prescription opioids and expose a wide-reaching illegal supply network.
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