BSF shoots down drone carrying heroin along border in Punjab

The BSF shot down a drone that entered the Indian territory from Pakistan with a consignment of heroin in Punjab's Amritsar, said the force on Monday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) said they recovered nine packets of heroin, thwarting a smuggling bid from across the border.

The BSF troops also lodged a protest with the Pakistani Rangers for the drone coming from across the border.

“Frontier #BSF troops foiled another smuggling attempt through Pak drone. Vigilant BSF troops fired at the drone coming from Pak & brought it down. A drone carrying 9 packets suspected to be #Heroin (10.670Kgs) in a bag were also recovered,” said the BSF in a tweet.

Talking to reporters later in Amritsar, BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bhupinder Singh said the troops fired nine rounds at the drone which travelled around one kilometer and was flying at a height of 300 metres.

Singh dubbed the recovery of drone and heroin as a big achievement for the force, saying it is for the first time that both were captured together.

“We earlier had caught drones and it is our fourth drone seizure. But it is for the first time that drone and heroin were caught together,” said Singh.

Replying to a question, Singh said it appeared that extra batteries were attached to the drone in order to increase its flying capacity.

To a question on who was the receiver of drugs, Singh, “Because of our action, it could not reach its destination.”

He said the area will be further searched along with police and other agencies.

The BSF officer said the markings on the drone were erased deliberately.

Replying to another question, he said a protest has been lodged with the Pakistan authorities during a flag meeting here as the drone came from across the border.