514 drone sightings since 2022, 121 brought down: Punjab IGP on drive against drug menace

Chandigarh [India], December 12 (ANI): Weighing in on the continuing drive against the drug menace, Punjab's Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill, on Monday said while the sightings of drones laden with suspected contraband and narcotics have in increased, the recoveries have also gone up.

Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, IGP Gill said, "There have been 514 drone sightings from 2022 to date. However, the recoveries (of contraband and narcotic substances) have gone up as well. As many as 121 drones (laden with drugs) were shot down in joint operations between the BSF and the Punjab Police."

Sharing further details on the recent recoveries, the IGP added, "Huge recoveries have been made in the recent past. There were five major recoveries in which narcotic substances in quantities of 40 kg, 38 kg, and 77 kg (narcotic items) were hauled in."

He underlined how the state police were combining with the Border Security Force (BSF) to clamp down on drug trade and smuggling in the state.

"The BSF is the first line of defence on the border and Punjab Police represents the second line. We have been tracking the movement of plenty of drones that are being used to push drugs into the state from across the border. BSF is using anti-drone technology to track and take down these unmanned flying objects. We have also put together two committees, one for the long term and the other to address the immediate need for equipment. The state police, along with the BSF, are proactive in checking the smuggling of narcotics from across the border," the IGP added.

He informed that there were multiple attempts in the recent past to smuggle arms and narcotics into Indian territory from across the border with the help of drones.

Earlier, on Monday, BSF jawans recovered a drone with narcotics in a field at Roran Wala village in the Amritsar district.

According to a press note by BSF Punjab Frontier, the BSF troops, while carrying out area domination patrolling ahead of the border fence around 3.40 pm on December 11, observed a suspicious item in the farming field near Roran Wala village in Amritsar.

The release stated further that during the detailed search of the area, the BSF troops recovered one drone along with one packet of narcotics items, suspected to be heroin (gross weight: gram), wrapped with yellow adhesive tape from the farming field ahead of the border fence. 

The recovered drone is a quadcopter (Model: DJI Mavic 3 Classic, made in China), the official statement read. (ANI)