Jammu and Kashmir has seen an exponential increase in drug use in recent years. During the first week of 2026, a number of narcotics-related arrests and recoveries in the Union Territory (UT) included:

On January 7, Police recovered 4.5 kilograms of charas during routine patrolling in the Kulpora area of Pulwama District and arrested one peddler, Parvez Ahmed Dar.

On January 6, Police seized heroin worth lakhs from a truck and arrested one accused in Pulwama District. On the same day, in Kathua District, drug peddler M. Sadiq alias Siku was detained and lodged in Jammu Jail. In Samba District, police arrested two peddlers – Deepak Sharma and Adil Hussain – recovering 9.72 grams of heroin from their vehicle at Vijaypur.

On January 1, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Kashmir arrested Tamana Ashraf, a woman who had been absconding for three years, in Srinagar’s Batamaloo area. She was linked to a 2023 NDPS case involving the trafficking of over 7 kilograms of charas to Mumbai, via courier.

On January 6, 2026, Maqsood-ul-Zaman, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) for North Kashmir Range, noted that drug abuse was the “gravest internal threat” confronting J&K, after terrorism. Similarly, on January 3, 2026, Anshul Garg, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, called drug addiction a “major challenge” and one of the “gravest social issues” facing the region. He described it as a “huge problem” and a “major warning........

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