Driven to despair by the near total decimation of the tourism industry in the insurgency-hit Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), many poor Kashmiri youths are turning into drug mules — carriers of drugs.
Driven to despair by the near total decimation of the tourism industry in the insurgency-hit Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), many poor Kashmiri youths are turning into drug mules — carriers of drugs.
More than 20 such youths were arrested in the city last year alone by the narcotics control bureau (NCB), the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police and the local police. This is a significant spike compared to earlier years, drug law enforcement agencies maintain.
“We have nabbed nine Kashmiri youths with drug consignments since May 2010. The number of youths being used as drug mules is on the rise. They are being lured with easy money by suppliers. A trip to Mumbai is an additional incentive,’’ said Yashodhan Wanage, zonal director, NCB, Maharashtra & Goa.
In their latest catch last week, NCB officials had arrested five youths carrying hashish worth Rs35 lakh. The consignment from Kashmir was supposed to be delivered to druglords operating in the city.
Two of the arrested were from Kashmir, who had driven all the way from the state with the stock of contraband concealed in their vehicle.
They had a meeting with the other three — all city-based suppliers — and were headed for a safe house when they were intercepted.
Most of those arrested in connection with drug trafficking are in the 18-35 age group and hail from poor families. The districts they belong to were once the most popular tourist destinations in the northern state but insurgency has virtually destroyed that industry in those areas.
Desperate youths are either joining the ranks of terrorists or taking to drug trafficking, sources in investigating agencies said.
“Liyaqat Ali Bhat, 20, and Manzoor Ahmed Dar, 26, who were arrested by NCB, were being paid Rs3,000 per kilogram of hashish and also the expenses of their travel and stay in Mumbai after the delivery. The Mumbai-based supplier Rasik Devraj, 52, had made arrangements for their stay in the city,” Wanage said.
In November, NCB officials had nabbed two other Kashmiri youths with a 68-kg consignment. Both were in their early 20s. A probe revealed they were just carriers while the mastermind was someone else operating from Kashmir.
The ANC had recently arrested a youth with hashish concealed in a CNG cylinder fitted to the vehicle. On interrogation, he revealed that he was acting on orders from a gang operating from Kashmir and had employed several youths from the violence-hit state just to drive down to Mumbai and other destinations across the country.
Anti-terrorism squad officials also provide similar account of Kashmiri youths they arrest.
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