Despite a heightened vigil both on land and in the air along the western border after India and Pakistan announced a cessation of military operations on May 10, Pakistan continued to drop narcotics and arms into India with the help of Chinese drones, recoveries made by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police show.
On May 10, before the cessation of operations was announced in the evening, the BSF, based on specific information, recovered a yellow packet adjacent to Sheikh Bhatti village in the Amritsar district of Punjab, bordering Pakistan. The packet had an improvised metal wire loop attached to it, indicating it was dropped by a drone, a BSF official said.
The packet contained 2.7 kilograms of high-grade explosive, two hand grenades with accessories, two pistols, four magazines, 30 live rounds of ammunition, two detonators, and an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) circuit.
“Despite the heightened situation on the border, the arms syndicate across the border has not stopped its malicious designs to push weapons onto Indian soil,” the BSF official said.
On May 11, amid blackouts, when several areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat were reportedly swarmed with armed drones from Pakistan despite the pause on military operations, the BSF recovered a “DJI Mavic 3 Classic” drone from a field adjacent to Gola Dola village of Gurdaspur in Punjab, and another drone of the same make along with a pistol in Kahangarh village.
The same day, BSF personnel recovered 559 grams of heroin from a farming field near Rajatal village in Amritsar district.
On May 12, around 11:20 a.m., the BSF recovered another Chinese-made drone in a broken condition from a field near Nishoke village in Amritsar.
Subsequently, on May 14, the BSF recovered a pistol, a drone, and a packet of heroin in three different incidents in Amritsar, Ferozepur, and Gurdaspur along the Punjab border.
On May 15, the BSF recovered another “DJI Mavic 3 Classic” drone from Tarn Taran in Punjab. “The drone is presumed to have fallen due to technical interference of electronic countermeasures deployed on the border,” the BSF said.
Overnight on May 15-16, BSF troops observed suspicious activity in the Ferozepur border area and, on inspection, recovered a “DJI Mavic 3 Classic” drone along with a pistol and two magazines from a farming field adjacent to Kalash village in Tarn Taran district.
In 2024, the BSF seized 294 drones along the Punjab border, double the figure from the previous year.
Published – May 17, 2025 09:54 pm IST
