Police bust Pak-linked drug syndicate smuggling narcotics via drones, 4 held in Kathua

In a major breakthrough, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have busted a Pakistan-linked drug trafficking syndicate and arrested four individuals in Kathua district who were using drones to smuggle narcotics from Pakistan.

Two of the arrested individuals are residents of Punjab and employees of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), currently working on a project in Samba district. Both Samba and Kathua districts lie along the International Border (IB), making them vulnerable to cross-border smuggling activities.

Kathua SSP Shobhit Saxena informed that the four accused—residents of Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab—were operating a well-organised cross-border drug network.

The police said on July 29 intelligence was received about a drone dropping a narcotics packet in Chhan Tanda village of Hiranagar near the IB in Kathua. A prompt response by the police and Border Security Force (BSF) led to the recovery of approximately 447 grams of opium. A case was registered under Sections 8, 18, and 19 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, as well as Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

During the investigation, with the help of local witnesses, police arrested two men whose roles were to retrieve the drone-dropped consignments and act as couriers for further delivery. They were identified as Sukhwinder Singh of Amritsar and Arshadeep Singh of Gurdaspur, both employed on an NHAI project in the Ghagwal area of Samba. The police also recovered 411 grams of heroin from their possession.

Further investigation, aided by a review of databases of known drug peddlers in Samba and Kathua districts, led to the arrest of Feroz Din, a resident of Rajbagh in Kathua. Feroz was reportedly the receiver of the heroin consignment and maintained direct contact with a Pakistan-based drug smuggler.

Subsequent disclosures by the arrested individuals enabled the police to nab the syndicate’s kingpin from Tarn Taran district in Punjab. “The kingpin was also in touch with the same Pakistan-based handler and was responsible for channeling the proceeds of the narcotics trade to Pakistan via hawala networks. Both cash and additional quantities of heroin were recovered from him,” a police spokesperson stated.

According to the police, the syndicate had already facilitated the smuggling and distribution of approximately 30 kilograms of heroin, dropped via drones in both Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. “The group operated a sophisticated and highly cautious network that had so far evaded law enforcement agencies,” the spokesperson said.

The investigation is ongoing, and police expect further arrests and recoveries in the coming days.