The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have shot down at least five drones from Pakistan that were carrying drugs across the international border in Punjab so far this year — all in the past three weeks, officials familiar with the matter said, adding that the force seized at least 10 kg heroin attached to the drones.
In two of these cases, officials found that the batteries used in the drones were manufactured by a company ostensibly based in Karachi.
On Sunday morning, border guards recovered another drone with around 2.7 heroin from a field near the border fence in Ghaniake village in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
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Last year, security personnel shot down 22 drones flying into India. In 2021, there was only one such case, none in 2020, and just two in 2019. In May 2019, the BSF spotted the first case of a drone being used as a drug carrier. The rise of such incidents this year have prompted the BSF to increase surveillance at the border.
“After deployment of countermeasures, drones are not flying deep inside but within 1km of the border. Many times, they return within seconds,” said Asif Jalal, inspector general of BSF’s Punjab frontier unit.
“Earlier, most of the cases of drone intrusion occurred in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts. Now the situation has changed. We are reworking the drop zones at the border areas. Deployment of troops has helped BSF build pressure on the smugglers and we have been able to bust a number of cases in the last two years,” Jalal added. “Separately, we have announced a reward of ₹1 lakh to residents of border areas, who inform us about drone intrusions and its linkage with a criminal. We protect their identity.”
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An analysis of the 2022 and 2023 cases of drones shot down by the BSF shows that different routes along the border were used to smuggle drugs, mostly heroin. Opium was smuggled only in one case in December last year. The drones were flown at night and could carry weights varying from 2-10 kg.
Of the 22 cases in 2022, nine drones were shot in areas under the Amritsar station headquarters, while eight were in Ferozpur. In both places, different villages were used as drop-off zones. In at least three cases last year, the border outpost at Harbhajan village in Ferozpur was used, and two each in Kaliya (Ferozepur) and Havelian (Amritsar).
“We have seen that drones can fly up to 2-3 km and land within 1km in India. For this, these smugglers must come near the border and fly the drones,” a BSF officer said, declining to be named. “If smugglers are flying 4-5 drones every fortnight, it is not possible without the support of the guarding forces there (Pakistan).”
The drones are not just carrying drugs. The BSF has in at least two cases in the past two months shot down drones ferrying weapons as well. Last week, in one case, along with heroin, the force recovered a China-made pistol and cartridges from a drone that entered India through MW Uttar in Ferozpur sector. This is significant because the National Investigation Agency is probing the role of Punjab gangsters getting support from agencies in Pakistan.
A BSF spokesperson attributed the rise in cases of drones shot down to the increased surveillance and deployment of counter-drone measures along the border. “The BSF has trained its personnel to detect and respond to drone-based smuggling attempts. We are also working closely with sister agencies and sharing intelligence,” he said. “The BSF remains committed to staying ahead of the curve and ensuring the security of India’s western border.”
