50-kg heroin worth ₹250 crore seized from Delhi-bound apple truck in Jammu

The heroin was packed in pouches and placed under the apple crates. The truck driver, identified as Abdul Qayoom, a resident of Kupwara, has been arrested,

A Delhi-bound truck carrying apples was intercepted at a toll plaza in Jammu and 50-kg heroin hidden inside the crates was seized, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials said on Thursday. The seized heroin was worth ₹250 crore in the international market, reports PTI.

Officials of Narcotics Control Bureau show the packet containing 50 kgs of heroin which was seized from an apple-ladden truck at a toll plaza, in Jammu, Thursday, November 8, 2018. (PTI)

The truck driver, identified as Abdul Qayoom, a resident of Kupwara, has been arrested, NCB zonal director Virender Yadav said at a press conference here.

“Acting on a tip-off, the NCB officers stopped the truck. While unloading the apple boxes, it was discovered that the contraband was packed in pouches and placed under the apple crates,” said Yadav. There were at least 50 such pouches weighing a kg each, he added.

“We are likely to make more arrests on the basis of the truck driver’s statement,” he added.

In the past three months, the NCB has seized 161-kg heroin in the Jammu area. Officers say the drugs are smuggled from Pakistan and distributed all over the country through Jammu and Kashmir.