Srinagar, July 23 -- In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the Union Territory has witnessed a persistent rise in narcotics trafficking, illegal cultivation, and substance abuse cases over the past five years.

Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the minister said drug seizures saw a sharp rise from 2018 to 2020, followed by a gradual decline in subsequent years. In 2018, authorities seized 19,353 kilograms of narcotics, 87,713 units, and nearly 8,000 litres of psychotropic substances.

Seizures surged in 2019 and peaked in 2020, when over 27,000 kilograms of drugs and more than 40,000 litres of liquid narcotics were confiscated. From 2021 onwards, t...