Drone shot down in Punjab was used in Pak, China: BSF officers

The Border Security Force (BSF), which keeps vigil at the border, has detected a growing trend of drones being used to smuggle in drugs, with those downed often being found with narcotics such as heroin worth crores, but at times even being used to fly in weapons, ostensibly destined for militants.

A forensics analysis of a drone shot down by security forces in Amritsar in December has showed that it was flown in parts of China and then in Pakistan last year before it was used to smuggle drugs across the Indo-Pak border, officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

HT’s analysis of the 2022 and 2023 cases of drones shot down by BSF shows that different routes along the border line were used to smuggle in the drugs, mostly heroin. (HT File)

The Border Security Force (BSF), which keeps vigil at the border, has detected a growing trend of drones being used to smuggle in drugs, with those downed often being found with narcotics such as heroin worth crores, but at times even being used to fly in weapons, ostensibly destined for militants. Last month, at least 18.78kg heroin smuggled using drones was recovered at the Punjab and Rajasthan frontier.

“The forensic analysis of the drone showed that it was flown in Feng Xian district of Shanghai in China on July 11, 2022. Later between September 24 and December 25, 2022 (the day it was shot down), it was flown 28 times within Khanewal in Pakistan,” said a BSF officer aware of the matter, asking not to be named.

Security personnel say that while much of such drone sightings and downing were typically along the border with Pakistan in Punjab, there are now incidents being recorded in Rajasthan too.

In previous years, personnel posted along the border in Rajasthan did not detect a single such attempt but in February, two such objects were downed.

Sharing details of the latest case, a BSF spokesperson, said, “A quadcopter drone had intruded in the Indian territory at the border outpost in Rajatal, Amritsar around 7.45 pm on December 25, 2022. BSF troops fired at the drone and brought it down. An FIR has already been registered at Gharinda police station in Amritsar. The recovered drone was sent to the BSF headquarters for forensic analysis. The details of its flight path in China and Pakistan were found during the analysis by our experts.”

BSF officials have said that most drones they recover or shoot down are manufactured in China and have batteries manufactured by a Karachi-based company.

HT’s analysis of the 2022 and 2023 cases of drones shot down by BSF shows that different routes along the border line were used to smuggle in the 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 last year, nine drones were shot down in areas under the Amritsar station headquarters while eight were in Ferozepur.

The analysis of cases in the past months have led BSF personnel to believe that some Punjab-based drug smugglers are using the Rajasthan frontier to get heroin using drones to escape the increased surveillance at the Indo-Pak border in Punjab.

A second BSF official said that on January 15, when two Punjab-based drug smugglers were caught taking around 6kg heroin to Punjab, the men confessed that the drug was dropped at Sri Ganganagar near the Indo-Pak border.