India: Narco-Terrorist Trap In Punjab – Analysis

By Nijeesh N. and Deepak Kumar Nayak 

On September 18, 2024, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Punjab Police recovered 10 kilograms of heroin in two different operations conducted in Kamaske and Manj villages in the Amritsar District of Punjab. The accused were linked to Pakistan-based smugglers and drones had been used to smuggle drugs from Pakistan.

On September 16, 2024, two packets of heroin weighing 1.146 kilograms were recovered by the BSF during a search operation near Naushera Dhalla village in Tarn Taran District. The packets were wrapped in yellow adhesive tape secured with black tape, and each packet also had an improvised iron ring and two illuminating sticks attached.

On the same day, during a search operation, BSF troops arrested two narcotics smugglers attempting to retrieve a heroin consignment dropped by a Pakistani drone and recovered two packets of heroin weighing one kilogram each near Qadar Bax in Fazilka District.

On September 13, 2024, BSF troops recovered one drone (quadcopter) along with a large packet of heroin (gross weight 6.23 kilograms) from an agricultural field in Gilpan village in the Tarn Taran District.

On the same day, in a search operation, the BSF troops recovered a packet containing 581 grams of heroin from a house in Dal village, Tarn Taran District. The drug consignment was wrapped in yellow adhesive tape. An improvised loop of copper wire was also found attached to the packet.

The challenges arising from the interconnected issues of drug trafficking, international organized crime, and terrorism represent significant concerns for India, particularly in its border states, with Punjab and the northeastern regions being the most affected. Punjab’s border has recorded major instances of composite seizures by both state and central agencies, including drugs, Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN), and arms and ammunition. These seizures include substantial quantities of heroin, opium,charas, and other narcotics, along with various weapons.

According to State Police disclosures on September 17, 2024, 2,546 kilograms of Heroin, 2,457 kilograms of opium, 1,156 quintals of poppy husk, and 42.9 million tablets/capsules/injections/vials of pharmaceutical opioids, were seized and 39,840 traffickers arrested, over the preceding two-and-a-half years. The Police also recovered INR 308.3 million of drug money from the possession of the arrested traffickers. This data excludes seizures made by the Border Security Force and the Narcotics Control Board.

Drugs seized by the BSF from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023 as reported by BSF included:

IBSF’s SEIZURE OF DRUGS (IN KGS) ON INDIA-PAKISTAN BORDER IN PUNJAB W.E.F JANUARY 01, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2023

Source: BSF | Posted on August 9, 2023 by PIB Delhi 

Significantly, the seized drugs are handed over by the BSF to State Police/Narcotics Control Bureau/other Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (DLEAs) for further investigation and disposal under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 (as amended).

Meanwhile, as per latest data published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2022, details of drug seized in the State of Punjab during 2020-2022 reflect a rising trend.

Drug-wise Seizures under NDPS Act in Punjab

Source: Crime in India, NCRB, 2022 | Posted On: July 31, 2024 by PIB Delhi

These seizures, of course, represent nothing more that the tip of the iceberg, between 5 and 10 per cent of the actual drugs in circulation, according to enforcement agencies. Several Police personnel have also been found to be entangled with drug peddlers. As a result of this nexus, many arrested and accused traffickers are let off the hook, as their investigations are deliberately botched, or because complaints against them are ignored for years at end.

According to a June 21, 2024, report, taking note of this nexus, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ordered the transfer of at least 10,000 Police personnel in an unprecedented move to crack down on the drug menace in the state. Mann stating that the move was aimed at checking the smuggling of drugs in the state, Mann disclosed that he had received reports that Police officers at the lower levels were involved with drug peddlers. He stated,

Many of the Moharrir Head Constables (MHCs), station house officers (SHO), and constables have been stationed at the same police station for many years and have formed a nexus with the drug smugglers there. They manipulate the procedures to save the accused. I have asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to immediately order mass transfers. 

Narcotics trafficking in Punjab is intimately linked to terrorist groups located across the border, in Pakistan. Investigation of cases involving the smuggling of arms and drugs indicate a clear unity of purpose between drug smugglers, gangsters, on the one hand, and both Khalistani and Islamist terrorists, on the other, operating under the direction of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). On February 13, 2020, Dinkar Gupta, the then Director General of Police (DGP) in Punjab, noted,

There have been individuals based in Pakistan and Europe, including Germany, who are involved in sending these consignments. Additionally, jihadi outfits collaborate with Khalistani separatists based in Pakistan. It is these jihadi groups that have shared drone technology with Khalistani organizations, and our understanding is that groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed possess a substantial inventory of these drones, as indicated by the serial numbers on their batteries.

Recent arrests of several retail drug smugglers connected to gangs led by Arshdeep Singh aka Arsh Dalla, Satinderjeet Singh aka Goldy Brar, and Arsh Panesar – who operate from abroad – have also uncovered a trend that new criminal gang members in the drug trade are being turned towards terrorist activities. The substantial profits generated from drug sales are being used to recruit unemployed youth for purposes of extortion and ‘targeted’ killings in India, especially in Punjab, at the behest of Khalistanis based abroad.

Significantly, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is leading the investigation into the targeted killing on April 13, 2024, of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vikas Prabhakar aka Vikas Bagga, in Nangal town, Rupnagar district, Punjab, has disclosed that the assassination was orchestrated by masterminds based in Pakistan who operate through terrorist networks in Portugal, Germany, and Dubai. The NIA further revealed that the individuals arrested in connection with the murder were unemployed and were enticed by financial incentives to act as foot soldiers for a terrorist module supported by a Pakistan-based organization, although the NIA refrained from identifying the terrorist group.

Further, in August 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches as part of a money-laundering investigation into Jasmeet Hakimzada, an international drug smuggler linked to the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). Searches took place in Delhi, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Solapur, and Indore. Hakimzada is accused of operating a global narco-terrorist network that involves drug trafficking and money laundering across multiple countries. He reportedly involves his parents and various front companies in India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in his activities.

Taking further action against the rising menace of narco-terror, on April 8, 2024, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested one person identified as Harwinder Singh alias Soshi Pannu in connection with the 2022 Attari drug seizure case from Tarn Taran District. The case relates to a major conspiracy hatched by the international drug cartel to circulate drugs in India through various distributors and channel the proceeds to foreign-based masterminds. NIA investigations revealed that Harwinder Singh had distributed drugs, handled cash, and laundered drug proceeds through banking and hawala channels. Earlier, the case came to light after the recovery of, totalling 102.78 kilograms of heroin valued at approximately 700 billion in April 2022 by Indian Customs. Additionally, the drug concealed in a consignment of liquorice roots (Mulethi) arrived in India from Afghanistan through Integrated Check Post (ICP) Attari in Amritsar.

According to a July 10, 2024, report, this year, to secure the borders and combat cross-border threats the BSF in the ongoing fight against drug trafficking in Punjab recovered around 145 kilograms of heroin and 15 kilograms of opium, including shipments transported by drones. The most frequently seized drones in Punjab are the Chinese-made DJI Mavic-3 Classic, often carrying small drug payloads along with automatic pistols and a few rounds of ammunition. Moreover, the Border authorities have confiscated 18 firearms, 24 magazines, and 313 rounds of ammunition of various calibres this year so far. Additionally, BSF operations have also resulted in substantial seizures of drugs such as ICE and tramadol hydrochloride tablets. Around 21,473 tablets of Tramadol and one kilogram of ICE have been recovered, alongside 111 litres of locally produced illicit liquor from border areas this year.

Seizure of drugs in Punjab by all Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (DLEAs) in the Year 2020- 2023 (In Kg/No./Litre/Blots/Bottles) *

Meanwhile, the BSF has intercepted 125 drones in 2024, so far, (data till July 9) along Punjab’s border with Pakistan, a significant increase from 22 drones intercepted in 2022 and 107 in 2023. According to a BSF report, this surge reflects a growing trend of drones transporting drugs, weapons, ammunition, and counterfeit currency from Pakistan into India. Most interceptions occur in border districts such as Fazilka, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot, with Tarn Taran and Amritsar yielding the highest recoveries. Facing escalating challenges from cross-border drones that are fuelling drug trafficking and arms smuggling, the BSF has called for the deployment of an additional battalion to strengthen its operations along the Punjab stretch of the India-Pakistan international border.

According to an August 26, 2024, report, the BSF has approximately 20 battalions stationed along the extensive 547-kilometre-long border, with 18 actively deployed at various points along the front. The remaining two battalions are assigned to critical security tasks at the Attari Integrated Check Post in Amritsar and the Kartarpur Corridor in Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur. The Force’s current focus is on addressing the persistent drone menace, which began to intensify around 2019-20, particularly affecting the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. According to a senior BSF officer, the request for an additional battalion is currently under “active consideration” by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA). This additional battalion aims to enhance the BSF’s ability to secure the border more effectively and to bolster surveillance and response capabilities against the drone threats and associated smuggling operations.

To combat drug abuse in Punjab, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), B.L. Verma, in a written reply in theLok Sabha(Lower House of the Parliament) on August 6, 2024, stated that his Ministry was implementing the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR), under which financial assistance is provided to ‘State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations for a range of palliative programs.

Several steps have also been taken by the central government to check the smuggling of illicit narcotics into Punjab, including the setting up of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) under a Special DGP in the state, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) under the chairmanship of the Director General, NCB, to monitor investigations of important and significant seizures, a task force on Darknet and Crypto-Currency under the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) mechanism to focus on monitoring all platforms facilitating Narco-trafficking, sharing of inputs on drug trafficking amongst Agencies/MAC members, interception of drug networks, continuous capturing oftrends,modus operandi& nodes, with regular database updates and review of related rules and laws.

Despite years of capacity building and strengthening of counter-narcotics initiatives, the volumes of narcotics entering the state continue to grow, and the linkages between terrorists and gangsters are becoming deeper and more complex. Historically, and across the globe, organised crime tends to be collusive, and there is urgent need to address the challenge of those who are undermining India’s capabilities to fight the drugs-gangster-terrorist menace from within.

• Nijeesh N. & Deepak Kumar Nayak 
  Research Associates, Institute for Conflict Management