10 kg heroin smuggled by hexacopter drones seized

In a major breakthrough, the Punjab Police confiscated 10kg of heroin in two separate incidents, arresting one individual and seizing a hexacopter drone in Lopoke subdivision, Amritsar. Jagroop Singh, a resident of Dalla village, was arrested for possessing 5kg of heroin. The police also recovered two mobile phones and impounded his motorcycle.

Jagroop was reportedly en route to deliver the drugs when a police team, led by SHO Amandeep Singh, intercepted him following a tip-off. Upon searching, officials found five packets of heroin.

Amritsar Rural SSP Charanjit Singh said Jagroop was believed to have used a hexacopter drone, with a payload capacity of 5-7kg, for smuggling. Jagroop had previously been an absconder in a criminal case registered in Jalandhar. His interrogation is ongoing to uncover more links in the smuggling network.

In a separate instance, the police recovered a Hexacopter drone from paddy fields in Manjh village, carrying another 5kg of drugs. This incident highlights the return of larger, assembled drones like quadcopters and hexacopters, which had fallen out of favour among smugglers after many were shot down in early 2023 due to their easy detectability. To avoid losses, Pakistan-based smugglers had switched to smaller, China-made drones like the DJI Mavic, which are quieter and harder to detect.

SSP Charanjit Singh confirmed the recent uptick in the use of larger drones, alongside the continued use of smaller ones. Since January, the Border Security Force (BSF) has recovered 145 drones, including five hexacopters, four quadcopters, and 120 DJI Mavic models.