Over 450 people have been arrested for drug trafficking in Jammu province till August this year under measures taken to curb the growing menace, Inspector General of Police S D Singh Jamwal said.

A large haul of narcotic substances, including charas, brown sugar and heroine, were seized during the drive which is going on in full strength in the area, Jamwal said.

He said 379 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act during the same period. The number of such cases registered in 2016 was 377 and in 2015 was 275.

Among these 379 cases this year, the charge sheet has been filed in 210 cases. 168 cases are still under investigation and one case has not admitted, Jamwal said.

“A total of 453 persons were arrested under the NDPS Act till August end against 511 in 2016 and 307 in 2015,” he said.

During the same period, 568.94 kg of marijuana was seized, five times more than the seizure made during this period last year. The quantity of charas recovered in 2015 was 24.3 kg which reached 107 kg in 2016.

The seized poppy straw recorded a remarkable increase at 5610 kg, which was 3268 kg in 2016 and 1846 kg in 2015, Jamwal said.

There was a significant drop in the amount of brown sugar seized. Last year, 13.1 kg was seized and it came down to 1.306 kg. In 2015, police had seized 4.4 kg of brown sugar till August.

Similarly, 39.315 kg heroin was seized till August this year against 64.143 kg in 2016 and 14.953 kg in 2015 for the same period.

The other recoveries made from the arrested persons, included smack, opium, ganja and banned capsules and tablets, he said.

Jamwal said the police has taken a number of measures to curb drug menace in the province and was planning to acquire 1.5 acres of land at Samba district to construct a state-of- the-art drug de-addiction centre.

A drug de-addiction centre has already been established at Gulshan ground here and in Kathua, Rajouri and Udhampur, he said.

“A number of youth clubs have also been established across Jammu region under civic action programme to engage youths in sports activities to divert their attention from drugs,” he said.

The police is patrolling around educational institutions to check drug use.

Anti-drug drives are also launched frequently with the participation of students from schools and colleges along with social organisations to ensure public cooperation with law enforcing agencies.

The police is also organising meetings with the civil society at district and tehsil headquarters regularly.