NCB focuses on identifying top 10 drug syndicates in J&K

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) deliberated on a range of issues during its quarterly Union Territory-level joint coordination committee meeting for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including the identification of top 10 syndicates operating in J&K.

“Discussion focused on drone-based drug drops & Punjab linkages, identification of top 10 syndicates operating in J&K, mapping of ‘hawala’ operators, hotspots & networks, analysis of districts with low seizures to identify enforcement gaps, scrutiny of suspicious financial transactions of narco offenders & drug scenario in UT Ladakh,” said the agency in a post on X.

The meeting, held in hybrid mode at the Border Security Force (BSF) Frontier Headquarters (Jammu), was chaired by the NCB Deputy Director-General (North Western Region) and attended by officers of BSF, Enforcement Directorate, Income-Tax, Director of Revenue Intelligence (J&K), the Union Territory’s Drug Control Department, along with anti-narcotics task forces and the Excise Department.

More than 4,300 drone sightings and close to 970 cases of incursions have been reported in the past five years along India’s international borders. Interceptions have led to the seizure of 641 kg of drugs, besides arms and ammunition.

According to the NCB annual report released in September 2025, a sharp increase in the drone-driven drugs drops along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab was noted. The number of seizures skyrocketed from just three cases in 2021 to 179 in 2024.

“The use of drones for cross-border smuggling of narcotics has emerged as a significant threat to India’s internal security, particularly along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab…there has been a sharp increase in drone sightings and recoveries of narcotics in border districts such as Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozpur, and Gurdaspur…the recovered consignments often include heroin, opium, etc.,” said the report.

On Tuesday (March 24, 2026), the NCB held a similar meeting for Andhra Pradesh, during which the officials concerned took up issues related to the evolving drug trafficking patterns, inter-State and international linkages, investigation into financial and organised crime networks, monitoring of important cases under prosecution, and improving inter-agency coordination to curb drug trafficking in the State.