Jaipur: Investigations by police into a cross-border

heroin smuggling

operation has once again revealed the handiwork of Punjab-based traffickers using Rajasthan's border areas for narcotics smuggling.
The probe, linked to a June 2024 case involving 6 kg of heroin worth Rs 30 crore dropped by a drone near the India-Pakistan border, led to the arrest of three men from Punjab recently. On Thursday, Rajasthan Police brought Baljeet Singh from Ludhiana jail to Sriganganagar on a production warrant. Singh, in police custody till March 10, is being interrogated by a joint team of the Border Security Force (BSF), intelligence and local law enforcement agencies. His accomplices, Gagandeep Singh and Navdeep Singh, were arrested on Feb 21 and Feb 28 respectively. All three men belong to Punjab's Firozpur district.
The case dates to June 15, 2024, when smugglers attempted to retrieve a heroin consignment dropped by a drone on a field in Sameja Kothi area of what was then Anupgarh district, a few kilometres from the international border. When confronted by the field's owner, the traffickers opened fire and escaped. A joint team of BSF and local police later recovered the heroin consignment at the site.
After Anupgarh was merged into Sriganganagar district, police intensified the probe, leading to the recent arrests. "We have arrested three Punjab residents since Feb 21, and we are searching for 5-6 more suspects, most of whom are also from Punjab. Baljeet Singh was recently arrested by Punjab Police in another smuggling case. We brought him on a production warrant in the Sameja Kothi case as he was found to be one of the smugglers who escaped after firing," said Sriganganagar SP Gaurav Yadav.

Police traced the smugglers by tracking the movement of the getaway vehicle used during their escape. This led them to Navdeep Singh, whose call records provided leads about the involvement of Baljeet and Gagandeep Singh. The trio, police said, was experienced narcotics traffickers with ties to organised drug syndicates operating out of Punjab. The trio was reportedly paid between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per kilogram of heroin to retrieve the consignment and transport it to drug networks in Punjab.
Sources said the smuggling operation followed a well-established pattern. The men retrieving the heroin were not informed of the final delivery location till the last moment. "They did not know their handler or the recipient. They were to be sent a WhatsApp message containing a headshot of the person they had to deliver the consignment to after reaching Punjab, but their attempt was foiled," said a police officer.
This method, officials noted, has been common in recent cross-border drug trafficking cases. Smuggling networks rely on encrypted communication channels like WhatsApp to maintain secrecy. Recruits tasked with retrieving the packets receive instructions only when necessary, minimising their knowledge of the larger network.
Sriganganagar police suspect several members of these organised drug syndicates are operating from prisons in Punjab. "Many of these traffickers are running their networks from jail, using mobile phones to recruit new members and coordinate deliveries," said an official.
SHO Krishna Kumar Balvda of Sameja Kothi police station, who was part of the police team that travelled to Punjab, said the crackdown on these networks is on. "After the joint interrogation of Baljeet Singh, we hope to dismantle this network," he added.
How smugglers operate
Drones drop heroin packets in Rajasthan's border areas from across the Pakistan border
Smugglers from Punjab attempt to retrieve the consignments, often under the cover of darkness
Smugglers are paid between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per kg to transport drugs to Punjab
Final delivery details are shared by the organised smuggling gangs at the last moment via WhatsApp, including a headshot of the recipient
Many members of organised drug syndicates operate from Punjab prisons, using mobile phones for coordination