Pakistani smugglers change tack, use river route to push drugs in bulk

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, September 8

In a shift in strategy, drug traffickers from Pakistan are sending larger consignments of narcotics — ranging between 15 kg and 70 kg — to Punjab, instead of pushing a few kilograms of contraband across the border.

Most of the attempts have been made in the recent months using the riverine areas of the Ravi (in Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts) and Sutlej (in Fazilka).

Making 70 kg drop in single sortie

• Fazilka has become hotspot as Sutlej’s span has grown from 200 m to 1 km this monsoon, making area harder to patrol
• As river criss-crosses border, smugglers swim into India with 15-70 kg drugs using tubes and return to Pak after making the drop
• Earlier, they used to throw a few packets over IB fencing or hide these in fields near zero line; using drones required several sorties

Fazilka has emerged as the hotspot with a spurt in such attempts over the past two months. The police seized one of the biggest-ever consignments of 77 kg on August 6 and another of 29 kg on August 21 from the district.

Police officials say ‘big fish’ Malkiat Singh Kali, a drug smuggler arrested by the Jalandhar police on Thursday, recently got 50 kg of heroin smuggled into India using the route. More than half (31.5 kg) of the consignment has been recovered. Earlier on September 6, Harpreet Singh of Amritsar was caught with 15 kg of heroin, which was delivered to him from across the border by notorious smuggler Happy Jatt.

“From mere 200 metres, Sutlej’s span has grown to more than 1 km in Fazilka this monsoon, submerging BSF posts and making it harder to patrol the area. Smugglers are using this to push larger quantities of drugs by hiding these in tractor tubes. The tubes are cut open, filled with drug packets and stitched back. The peddlers bringing in narcotics tie empty plastic bottles to avoid drowning while crossing the river,” says an official, explaining their modus operandi. The smugglers earlier used to throw a bunch of packets over the fence at the International Border or hide these in fields near the zero line. “Now they are trying to send in huge quantities,” said the officials.

Drones are also being used to push drugs across the border, but these usually carry a payload of up to 5 kg. Last week, the police made separate seizures of 15 kg heroin from seven persons. “This consignment was smuggled through six drone sorties of 2.5 kg each,” said the official.

Given the threat involved in smuggling big consignments, which are often intercepted, ruining the life of those nabbed, the smugglers lure peddlers with commissions to take the gamble. Apart from facing long jail terms, they risk injury, all for a couple of lakh of rupees.

In one such instance, peddlers Mohd Amjad (34) and Siwana (26) from Pakistan were nabbed for smuggling 29 kg contraband in Fazilka. They had crossed over to the Indian side through the Sutluj, hoping to return and pocket Rs 3 lakh each as commission. But Amjad is in jail, while Siwana has lost an arm after suffering a bullet injury. Indian security agencies had opened fire as he tried to flee. His left arm had to be amputated in the hospital later.