PUNJABI TADKA: Drugs, drones & Pak-scripted addiction in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Murphy's Law states that when things get bad, they tend to get worse. The Pakistan-scripted drone-and-drug story, which is so pronounced in the border districts of Punjab, is following the footsteps of Mr. Murphy. Things are definitely getting from bad to worse with more and more heroin being pushed into Punjab with every passing day leading to an addiction- epidemic of sorts.

The story is somewhat akin to the 'elephant in the room' phenomenon. The metaphorical elephant represents an obvious problem that people do not want to talk about. The same is the case here. Drug enforcement officers do not want to discuss the problem because they have failed to provide a viable solution. And in the future too the chances of finding a resolution look bleak.

Apart from high-purity heroin, cross-border consignments also include sophisticated pistols, magazines, cartridges, and cash.

Police officers say not long ago drones were used to transport drugs along the US-Mexico border. This novel technique soon caught the fancy of cartels operating in India and Pakistan following which the flying contraption made its debut in Punjab in September, 2020.

DGP Gaurav Yadav says stories claiming every third household located near the International Border (IB) is on drugs are "anecdotal." They may or may not be anecdotal, but the fact remains that where there is some smoke, there has to be some fire.

Officers clandestinely admit that for every drone shot down, at least five fly back home undetected after dropping their baggage. A cat and mouse game is actually being played out in the skies of Punjab. Pakistani smugglers often send a drone which carries nothing but nevertheless has a high decibel level whirring sound. Actually, this drone, a decoy, is sent to deflect the attention of the security agencies. At the same time, another one is launched which quietly drops its payload without being noticed.

The modus-operandi adopted in some cases proves how ridiculously easy it has become to procure the drug. Smugglers often stand near the IB and use their Whatsapp number to send their location to their contacts in Pakistan. An hour or so later, a drone arrives and drops its baggage of heroin at exactly the same location from where the message had been sent. Money is exchanged through the hawala route. The scale and the high-end technology involved to transport the white powder into India means it is no longer the handiwork of gangsters. The involvement of state actors of Pakistan is too glaring to be missed.

Punjab Police have now established Village Defense Committees (VDCs) in border villages. Their job is to inform the cops of any "whirring noise" in their villages.

Cops also plan to use Artificial Intelligence (AI). A Drone Emergency Response System (DERS) has already been launched. However, it is not that effective and more proactive and collaborative countermeasures are required.

Earlier, about three decades ago, when the border fencing had yet to come up, smugglers used to bend a long plastic pipe at certain angles and insert it through the fencing. A particular type of machine was then used from the Pakistan side to push the packets into Indian territory through the pipes. Tunnels too were used to bring the contraband into India. Smuggling through rivers was also done. This might sound a bit confusing because the river Ravi flows from India into Pakistan, then re-enters Indian territory from where it again flows into Pakistan. This zig-zag occurrence helped Pakistani peddlers to transport the drug into India using bottles.

Then in September 2020 came the arrival of the drone. This resulted in a deathly dance of drugs which has ultimately led to the destruction of lives and livelihoods of hundreds of youth.

The number of flights these flying machines have made since then remain in the realms of speculation. For every kg of heroin seized by the BSF and Punjab Police nobody knows for sure how many kilos have slipped into Punjab undetected and unnoticed.

Rakesh Kaushal, DIG (Border) confirmed that in the last six months nearly a hundred drones have been seized in the border districts of Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar. In 2023, forces seized 107 drones while from 2020 to 2022 just 53 drones were recovered. This clearly indicates the count is increasing with every passing day.

The drone cannot fly long distances. It flies close to the IB and nine times out of ten drops its payload near the fencing. That's reason enough why heroin use is so common in villages and small towns dotting the international border. Earlier, a drone carried a maximum payload of 5 to 10 kgs. This capacity has now increased to 15 kg as the machines have become technologically smarter than before.

The agencies often catch 'carriers' who are small-time smugglers adept in picking up the contraband from near the IB and hand it over to unidentified men stationed in nearby towns. The unidentified man comes on a two wheeler, because it is easy to drive through narrow streets in case he is chased by the cops, has his face covered with a cloth and does not carry a mobile. It is here where the trail goes dead because the carrier is unable to divulge details of these men. Carriers often get Rs 2 lakh to pass a one kg heroin packet to these faceless men. This packet is later sold for Rs 5 crore in the international market.

Till the agencies nab the faceless men, who in turn can lead them to the Dons of the trade, and till an antidote to the drones is developed, the battle against heroin will remain unsuccessful on this side of Punjab.

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