State launches anti-drone system to tackle cross-border smuggling

Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann along with Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal today flagged off an anti-drone system (ADS) — “Baaz Akh” (hawk eye) — to curb cross-border drug smuggling in Tarn Taran district.

Terming it “a glorious chapter in the crusade against drugs”, Kejriwal said, “Previous regimes hobnobbed with drug smugglers, allowing this curse to strengthen its hold in the state.”

Kejriwal announced that three ADS units had been launched and six more would be deployed soon to make Punjab drug-free. He said a “feared drug lord” had been arrested by the current government.

CM Mann said under the “War against drugs” (Yudh Nasheyan Virudh) campaign, Punjab had today launched a battle to stop drug smuggling from across the border. Punjab shared a 553-km border with Pakistan, which was considered one of the most sensitive zones for the smuggling of narcotics and weapons.

The CM said an amount of Rs 51.4 crore was being spent on these units. He said although our country’s armed forces and BSF had already been using such systems, Punjab was the first state in the country to deploy anti-drone systems at the international border. He said enemies of the country had turned drones into weapons for smuggling drugs from across the border to destroy Punjab’s youth.

In 2024, a total of 283 drones, loaded with heroin, weapons and ammunition, were seized, and in 2025, 137 drones had been seized.

Mann said the anti-drone system would be deployed along the border from Pathankot to Fazilka as the “second line of defence”.

The CM said with this launch, any drone entering the state through the border could be immediately neutralised. He said the “second line of defence” refers to the deployment of the Punjab Police in the border districts, which worked behind the BSF stationed at the international border. He said these systems would be deployed at those specific border points where high drone activity had been observed. The anti-drone system was equipped to accurately detect a drone’s position and its ground-control stations.

Punjab is now the first state in the country to deploy such a system along the International Border.