In J&K, a ‘disoriented’ villager leads police to uncover a Pakistan drone drug network

On the evening of October 20, a Jammu and Kashmir Police team from R S Pura Police Station picked up a 26-year-old villager who was allegedly lying near a ‘ditch’ in Kotli Mirdian village in Suchetgarh tehsil. The village is close to the India-Pakistan international border.

The young man, identified as Sunny, was “barely conscious” and “disoriented” when the police found him. “We saw him lying near a ditch. We brought him along,’’ Station House Officer, R S Pura, Vikram Singh said. “It was a routine procedure for us. Any person found in an inebriated condition has to undergo a medical test to establish the cause,’’ he said.

Once he “sobered up”, Singh said, Sunny admitted that he had consumed ‘chitta’ (heroin). “We wanted to know who supplied him the drugs. We were hoping for a clue that would lead us to the dealer,’’ the officer said. “His answer shocked us.”

What began as a routine inquiry into drug use had by then widened into a full-fledged narco-terror investigation, bringing a major challenge facing security agencies along the border into renewed focus. (Express photo)

Sunny claimed that the drugs had been smuggled from Pakistan using a drone, police said, and that he had taken a small quantity from the consignment for personal use.

What began as a routine inquiry into drug use had by then widened into a full-fledged narco-terror investigation, bringing a major challenge facing security agencies along the border into renewed focus.

Acting on leads from Sunny, police recovered 804 grams of heroin and 1.114 kg of opium from Talhar village in adjoining Arnia tehsil, police officials said. Sunny has no known criminal record, and investigators suspect that he may have come into contact with smugglers from across the border through social media apps such as Instagram.

“The preliminary investigations have indicated involvement of a cross-border nexus in the smuggling of narcotics, which were dropped into Indian territory by drone from the Pakistan side,” SHO Vikram Singh said. “The police are investigating the backward and forward linkages of the module to identify the source of the consignment, its intended recipients and other persons involved in the network.”

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Sunny, 26, is the younger son of Tarsem Lal, an agricultural labourer, and a mid-day meal volunteer. The family lives in a two-room house built under the PM Awas Yojana nearly a decade ago that still lacks doors and window panes, former sarpanch Jasbir Singh told The Indian Express. Sunny’s elder brother lives separately because he was adopted by their uncle as a child. He works as a Special Police Official (SPO) with the J&K Police. The scheme to recruit SPOs was started in 1995. These auxiliary personnel, who have temporary jobs with meagre salaries, are recruited primarily to assist the J&K Police in its counter-insurgency operations.

Residents said Sunny struggled with drug addiction. Police said a medical test confirmed that he had consumed drugs. He allegedly told investigators he hid the consignment in fields in Talhar village after taking some for personal use.

Police suspect Sunny may have joined a cross-border narcotics smuggling module to meet his own demand for drugs. However, a police officer said it was still unclear when he first came into contact with the suspected network.

Use of drones

The use of drones to smuggle arms, ammunition and narcotics across the border to fund terror activities has been a major concern for security agencies, prompting anti-drone measures and stepped-up vigilance along the international border with Pakistan.

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During the 100-day J&K Nasha Mukt Abhiyan, which began on April 11, security agencies and police seized around 1,500 kg of narcotics, including 23.29 kg of high-value heroin, and attached properties worth Rs 200 crore allegedly acquired through drug money.

Nine drone sorties were detected in Jammu and Samba districts alone, followed by seizures of 7.8 kg of heroin and 1.6 kg of opium, officials said.

According to Ministry of Home Affairs data, 4,491 kg of narcotic substances were seized in Jammu and Kashmir in 2025, down from 5,708 kg in 2024 and 11,066 kg in 2023. Officials attributed the decline to a greater focus on dismantling the financial infrastructure and narco-terror funding networks behind drug syndicates.

Earlier this month, police claimed to have busted a cross-border narco-terror module after arresting three youths from Jammu and Kashmir. The accused allegedly had links with Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti, whom officials described as a handler sending consignments of arms, ammunition and narcotics by drone across the international border for onward delivery to members of the module in Punjab.

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Police said they had seized a Beretta pistol, ammunition, nearly 500 grams of heroin and nearly 500 grams of opium from the accused. A fourth man, Jaganpreet Randhawa alias Jaggi, was subsequently arrested in Punjab, police said.