| After two-month silence, Pak resumes drone-based drug smuggling on borders | | | Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 31: After nearly two months of silence, Pakistan has resumed its drone-based smuggling operations along the International Border (IB), raising fresh concerns about cross-border narco-terrorism.
In the past six days, security forces have foiled at least two attempts to drop narcotics via drones, recovering over 1.5 kilograms of heroin in separate incidents.
In the latest episode, a suspected Pakistani drone dropped a yellow packet containing 500 grams of heroin, valued at over Rs 2 crore, near the border in Kathua district on Tuesday. The consignment was recovered from Chhann Tanda village, located close to the border under the jurisdiction of Hiranagar Police Station.
Alert villagers spotted the suspicious packet lying in agricultural fields and promptly informed the authorities. Joint teams of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Special Operations Group (SOG), and the Border Security Force (BSF) launched a swift search and cordoned off the area.
SSP Kathua, Shobhit Saxena, confirmed the recovery and told the media, “A suspicious yellow packet has been recovered. FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) and the Bomb Disposal Squad have been called in to ascertain the contents. The matter will become clearer after a thorough investigation.”
This is the second drone-dropped heroin consignment intercepted by security forces in the Jammu region within a span of four days.
On July 26, police recovered another half kilogram of heroin in Chillyari, a border village in Samba district, following reports of drone activity from across the border. That consignment, weighing approximately 498 grams, was found lying in an open field, triggering an extensive search operation by local police and security agencies.
Just days earlier, on Saturday, a similar consignment—also suspected to have been dropped by a drone—was recovered from a forward village in Samba. A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at Ghagwal Police Station.
According to sources, Pakistan appears to have resumed its drone-based narcotics smuggling after a two-month pause following Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory strike by India in May targeting cross-border terror infrastructure.
The repeated recovery of heroin packets in recent days has put security agencies on high alert across the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Intensive search operations and drone surveillance have been intensified to prevent further smuggling attempts and to neutralize any potential threats posed by Pakistan’s drone-based narco-terror strategy. |
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