Personnel on alert as smugglers from Pak use balloons to transport drugs
Hindustan TimesSecurity personnel posted on the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab are keeping an eye on balloons in the sky fitted with LED lights in the backdrop of two recent cases that showed such contraptions being used to drop recreational drugs from across the border, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. The officials added that Pakistani smugglers have adopted the new modus operandi -- sending contraband consignments released from small balloons attached to drones flying across the border -- to get past tight surveillance on the Indian side. As cases began increasing last year, the Border Security Force stepped up vigilance, started using drone jammers, and set up anti-drone hit teams, after which 22 such devices were shot down at the border. Before this, the first case of four balloons tied to a drone was reported on February 16, when authorities found four deflated balloons along with 2kg heroin near the border fence in Dalla Rajputan village, Amritsar Rural.