CHANDIGARH: Pakistan-based drug syndicates are increasingly relying on encrypted messaging platforms such as Skred and Zangi, along with virtual numbers, GPS-enabled drones and forged KYC-based SIM cards, to coordinate the smuggling of narcotics and weapons into Punjab while evading detection.
The drones are used to ferry illegal consignments across the border and drop them at designated locations. Local couriers retrieve the consignments within hours using coordinates shared through encrypted communication platforms.
In response to the growing threat, the Punjab Police has urged the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to establish more drone forensic laboratories. The facilities would help analyse flight-log data from drones sent across the border by Pakistan-based drug syndicates.
In the first seven months of this year alone, security agencies recovered 161 drones and seized 392.355 kg of heroin in Punjab.
On Tuesday, the Punjab Police seized 10.4 kg of heroin from Sufian village near the Indo-Pak international border, a day after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recovered around 9 kg of heroin from the Lopoke area.
Sources said platforms such as Skred and Zangi are difficult to intercept, posing a major challenge for law enforcement agencies. The issue was recently flagged during a brainstorming session of police officials from border districts chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Union government has already set up a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) to monitor investigations into major drug cases. So far, the NCB has held four state-level JCC meetings in Punjab to tackle organised drug syndicates and their links to terror financing.
A four-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism has also been established to ensure regular coordination among central ministries, state governments, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.
Since 2021, drone-assisted drug trafficking has risen sharply. Between 2025 and July 27 this year, security forces recovered 474 drones and seized 777.474 kg of heroin along the Punjab sector of the Indo-Pak international border. In 2025 alone, 316 drone incidents were reported, 313 drones were recovered and 385.119 kg of heroin was seized, highlighting the growing scale of the threat.
An official said Punjab remains vulnerable to cross-border smuggling because of its proximity to the international border, with an expanding nexus involving narcotics trafficking, illegal arms supply and terror financing.
The Punjab government has deployed three anti-drone systems two in Tarn Taran and one in Amritsar Rural at a cost of around ₹53 crore. The systems cover about 210 km across Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar Rural districts.
Punjab shares a 553-km international border with Pakistan, passing through Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar Rural, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.
In the latest incident, the Amritsar Rural Police booked three alleged drug peddlers Raja Singh, Gora Singh and Amrinder Singh alias Abu, all residents of Sufian village. Police said the accused reached a designated location to collect a heroin consignment after receiving its coordinates from Pakistan-based smugglers through encrypted messaging apps. However, they escaped by taking advantage of the tall jowar crop after spotting the police.
During a search operation, police recovered a black kit bag containing 20 packets of heroin wrapped in yellow adhesive tape. Preliminary investigations indicate that the consignment was smuggled into India by drone, with Pakistan-based handlers sharing the precise drop location through encrypted messaging platforms before the accused arrived to collect the narcotics.