Narco-terror nexus: 593 drone sightings by BSF since 2019 at India-Pak border in Punjab

In a rare admission in July, Malik Mohd Ahmad Khan, Special Assistant on Defence to then Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, had admitted that Pakistani smugglers were increasingly using drones to send drugs to India.

Khan had made the comments in an interview to senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in Pakistan’s Kasur city, which is situated just across Khemkaran and Ferozepur in Indian Punjab.

According to an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), drone sightings in the past few years were mainly reported within a range of 2-10 kms of the International Border in Punjab, a 553-km stretch which includes 35 kms of riverine area.

“The BSF has so far examined 62 drones, 14 (were examined) by Punjab police and one by the Delhi Police,” the official said.

A security establishment official said drone payload recoveries in the past year included “317 kg heroin, 10 kg RDX, 10 IEDs, 512 firearms, 56 hand grenades, 12 AK-47 rifles, 128 pistols and Rs 18 lakh in cash”.

“Pakistan’s ISI supports this narco-terrorism network and they are using drug smugglers as a weapons supplier. The narco smugglers are helping PKEs through weapons smuggling and financing, while PKEs are helping them with the support of cross-border linkage and Pakistan intelligence operatives (PIOs),” the official said, adding the central intelligence agencies have sufficient evidence to show the “nexus”.

“So far, the Punjab Police has arrested 30 persons and registered 27 FIRs in connection with drugs and weapons-related matters. 13 FIRs have been registered against Pakistani nationals in narco-terror cases and 16 persons have been arrested,” an official said.

While the BSF is now using counter drone technology along the border, the Punjab Police has constituted a special task force to probe drug-related cases.

According to the MHA’s annual report-2023 released last month, 10 states and three Central Armed Police Forces have attended the “drone and anti-drone” training at the NSG centre in Manesar.

Last year, MoS (Home) Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that owing to its “increased territorial jurisdiction, the BSF has achieved success in curbing smuggling of drugs and other contraband items…”.