JAMMU: In a major breakthrough, five suspected drug peddlers were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Monday, and around 52 kg poppy straw and 507 bottles of a banned cough syrup seized from them, police said.
The poppy straw was seized from three Punjab-bound gas tankers, while the cough syrup bottles were found in a truck coming from the neighbouring state, they said.
Two gas tankers driven by Punjab residents Jaspreet Singh and Sher Khan were intercepted for checking on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway near Rajbagh, leading to the recovery of 34.96 kg poppy straw, an official said.
Seventeen kg poppy straw was found in another such vehicle driven by Satinder Singh of Hoshiarpur (Punjab) on the highway near Nagri during checking, he said.
All three drivers were arrested and booked in separate cases under the NDPS Act, the official added.
He said the cough syrup bottles were recovered from a Jammu-bound truck at the Golden Gate in Lakhanpur. The driver, Ashok Singh, and his associate, Jodh Singh, both residents of Kathua, were arrested and a case under the NDPS Act was registered against them.
