Smugglers making youth switch from heroin to meth

The seizure of 7.4 kg of ICE (crystal methamphetamine) on Friday near the Attari border underlines the disturbing plan of drug smugglers to make youth shift away from chitta (heroin) to a drug that is cheaper, more potent and easier to manufacture.

Also read: 7.4 kg ICE smuggled from Pak seized in Amritsar village

Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted the high-purity ICE consignment. This marked yet another chapter in the evolving narco-war on the western frontier, with smugglers manufacturing ICE in Pakistan and Afghanistan for pushing it into India.

Officials said it’s a red flag in a larger transformation of the regional drug trade. With the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation causing a near-collapse of the opium economy in Afghanistan, traffickers have swiftly adapted to manufacturing ICE using locally available ephedra plants.

As The Tribune reported earlier this year, this plant-based meth is being mass-produced in makeshift labs hidden in the Afghan highlands and pushed into Punjab via Pakistan with alarming consistency.

“In the past, heroin was the primary threat, but now we’re battling synthetic drugs that are cheaper, deadlier and more addictive,” a police official said.

The numbers paint a grim picture. From just 2 kg of ICE seized in 2023, the figure soared to 22 kg in 2024. So far in 2025, at least 9.4 kg has been seized, including the 2 kg seized during February raids and today’s consignment, suspected to be part of a multi-drug payload.

Intelligence sources suggest that Pakistan-based smuggler Haji Salim is at the helm, orchestrating ICE shipments via drones and underground tunnels across Punjab’s sensitive border districts.

This trend isn’t confined to the border belt only.

In Ludhiana, the state’s industrial hub, the police had in 2022 seized 20.8 kg ICE — one of the largest such hauls in Punjab. The key accused, arrested from Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir, was allegedly running a pan-India synthetic drug network with international ties, revealing how deeply ICE has penetrated into Punjab’s heartland.

Another prominent incident involved the seizure of the drug from Harpreet Singh, brother of Khadoor Sahib MP and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh, and his accomplice Lovepreet Singh, by the Jalandhar police.

Smugglers are reportedly bundling heroin and ICE together, offering free samples of the synthetic stimulant to hook users and expand demand. Officials had earlier told The Tribune this “one-plus-one” offer is part of a sinister strategy to build a parallel market for ICE in Punjab’s rural pockets and urban slums.