ISLAMABAD: Poppy flowers were found growing in Islamabad's Red Zone area along Constitution Avenue and opposite the Supreme Court and Election Commission of Pakistan, complete with score marks down their sides.

The poppy is not a naturally occurring plant in Islamabad, meaning the flowers have been intentionally planted at the onset of spring.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) is responsible for the spring planting drive every year, but a CDA spokesman denied knowledge of the plants and speculated that gardeners of other institutions in the neighbourhood may have planted the flowers.

Growing poppy flowers is illegal in Pakistan, even for ornamental purposes.

The unripe seed pods carried score marks, meaning the 'poppy tears' or latex inside has already been harvested for opium.

The sap is also processed into heroin.