Border officers say most drones carry opium and heroin, fuelling a drugs crisis in Punjab, while others drop weapons
Indian border security have said they are battling an unprecedented “drone menace” infiltrating the border with Pakistan, fuelling the drugs crisis in the state of Punjab and raising serious security issues.
Officials from India’s border security force (BSF) in the border state of Punjab told the Guardian they had intercepted 90 drones from Pakistan so far in 2023, the highest on record. They said the number was “increasing every month”.
Most carried consignments of opium and heroin, likely to have come from Afghanistan, but some have dropped weapons, including pistols and Chinese-made assault rifles.
The drones, some known as hexacopters, which are up to 8ft wide and have high-resolution cameras attached, have been detected as far as 12km inside India’s border. The drugs are often carried in small sacks or Coca-Cola bottles.
Given the longstanding animosity between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, who have gone to war four times, Indian border officials said the growing number of drones coming over from Pakistan – using increasingly advanced technology – presented a significant security risk.
“Anything which does not have a legitimate entry into India is a security challenge for us,” said Atul Fulzele, the inspector general of BSF in Punjab. “Apart from use of drones for drugs, there are instances where drones have been found dropping weapons and it has potential to cause damage. We have to be really very watchful.”
Smuggling between Pakistan and India has gone on for decades, with everything from camels and carrier pigeons to human traffickers and underground pipes being used to ferry drugs and other goods across the heavily guarded border. However, since the first drone was spotted in Punjab in 2019, BSF officials said drones had become “the main modus operandi of trafficking drugs” from Pakistan. In some weeks, five or six drones have been intercepted.
BSF said drones were responsible for about 60% of the drug-smuggling in the state in 2023, driving up trade significantly, as well as adding a “new dimension” to protecting the security of India’s border.
