Cocaine Worth Over ₹10 Crore Seized As Ganderbal Police Bust High-Value Drug Racket – Alfaaz – The Words

Sheikh Junaid

Ganderbal: In a major blow to organised narcotics syndicates, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have dismantled a high-value drug trafficking module in Ganderbal district, seizing cocaine worth over ₹10 crore from a rented accommodation in Srinagar’s Sanat Nagar area.

Officials said the seizure was the outcome of an intensified and intelligence-led crackdown on the procurement and distribution of premium narcotic substances, including cocaine and heroin. The operation was set in motion on December 8, 2025, during a special naka checking drive, when a suspected drug peddler, Mohd Irfan Bhat, son of Ghulam Nabi Bhat of Kharbagh Wakura in Ganderbal, was apprehended.

Following his arrest, FIR No. 200/2025 was registered at Police Station Ganderbal under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, and a detailed investigation was launched.

In view of the seriousness of the offence and suspected wider linkages, SSP Ganderbal Khalil Ahmad Poswal constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of Additional SP Ganderbal Owaise Loun to probe both backward and forward linkages of the trafficking network.

The investigation, led by SI Gulzar Hussain, In-Charge Police Post Shadipora, involved sustained efforts to trace the supply chain. Acting on court-issued search warrants, the SIT conducted coordinated raids at multiple locations, including Sumbal, Shadipora and Zakura, along with other suspected hideouts.

During the course of the probe, another alleged key figure in the racket, Maqsood Hussain Khan, son of Abdul Majeed Khan, a resident of Hazratbal, Srinagar, presently residing at Gooripora, Sanat Nagar, was identified and detained. Searches carried out at his rented accommodation on the intervening night of December 16 and 17 resulted in the recovery of two packets of a cocaine-like substance weighing approximately one kilogram.

The seized contraband is estimated to be worth over ₹10 crore in the international illicit drug market. Police also seized a vehicle, mobile phones and other electronic devices from the premises.

An in-depth investigation is underway to ascertain the source of the contraband, unravel the complete supply chain and examine possible inter-state and international linkages. Police officials indicated that further arrests and recoveries are likely as the investigation progresses.

The officials have in the meantime urged public to share credible information related to drug abuse and peddling, and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the collective effort to build a drug-free society.