Srinagar, October 14: The Jammu and Kashmir Drug Control Department on Wednesday said intoxicant drugs worth ₹56.85 lakh had been seized since January 2026, asserting that the recoveries were made from drug peddlers and persons involved in illegal trade, and not from licensed pharmacies or medical sale establishments.
In a statement rebutting a Jammu-based newspaper report headlined “Drug Seizures Mount, But Where Is Drug Controller J&K?”, the department said the seizures, valued at ₹56,85,243, were carried out with the support and coordination of the Police Department as part of enforcement efforts against drug peddling and the illicit circulation of habit-forming medicines.
The department said the recovery of illicit drugs from peddlers did not, by itself, establish that the medicines had originated from licensed pharmacies or indicated a failure of the regulatory system. The source and supply chain of each recovery, it said, needed to be established through evidence-based investigation.
The department said it was responsible for regulating the manufacture, sale and distribution of drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the rules framed under it. It added that Drug Control Officers were conducting inspections, scrutinising sale and purchase records, verifying compliance with statutory requirements and initiating legal or administrative action wherever violations were detected.
It further claimed that 100 per cent compliance had been ensured with requirements for CCTV cameras and computerised billing systems at medical sale establishments, describing the measures as a means of improving transparency, tracking pharmaceutical transactions and preventing the diversion of medicines into unauthorised channels.
The department said Drug Control Officers were recommending action, including cancellation of drug sale licences, wherever violations relating to habit-forming medicines were established in accordance with applicable legal provisions and procedures.
It said 25 drug sale licences had been cancelled between January and the end of September 2026, adding that it would take stringent action against licensed establishments found engaging in unlawful practices.
The department also emphasised that seizures of illicit drugs from peddlers involved coordinated enforcement by the Police and other concerned agencies.
Reaffirming its zero-tolerance policy towards the misuse and diversion of habit-forming medicines, the department said it remained committed to protecting public health and preventing abuse of the drug distribution system.
