With their capacity for real-time information gathering and surveillance operations, drones are becoming an ever-more-essential part of military arsenals around the world.
Thanks to developments in UAV technology, legitimate state actors as well as rogue factions can now utilise these small and affordable tools.
They are desirable for a variety of uses due to their simple operation, low cost, and stealthiness. Armed drone use in wars like the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and the military clash in western Libya highlight their strategic importance.
The 2019 drone assaults carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against two Saudi Aramco oil firm facilities served as a huge global wake-up call to the expanding drone danger.
Additionally, the assault on the Air Force facility in Jammu in June 2021—which was allegedly carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba members—marked the first known instance of drones being deployed in a domestic terrorist action.
Border regions, especially those along the India-Pakistan border, have historically been important hubs for the trafficking of illegal goods like drugs, fake money, weapons, and other contraband.
The Punjab government reports that the first documented case of a drone delivery of weapons and ammunition took place in August 2019, and that since then the threat has only grown.
Data from the Border Security Force (BSF) and open-source information suggest that the occurrences of drones carrying narcotics, weapons, and ammunition across the border have more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.
The state of Punjab has emerged as a central hub for these smuggling activities, with border areas like Fazilka, Firozpur, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar serving as key entry points. Punjab’s proximity to the so-called ‘Golden Crescent’, a notorious heroin-producing region encompassing Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, adds to the complexity of the situation. According to Indian authorities, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of the Pakistan Army has been implicated in supporting these smuggling operations.
In most cases items that were being transported through drones from Pakistan and had been captured by efforts of BSF and Punjab police were Heroin.
Among all cases recorded since January, around 88% cases have been those of Heroin. However, in few cases arms have also been illegally transported across the border.
There have also been instances where drones have been found in empty fields without anything attached to it according to BSF officials. Since the drones used are very sophisticated it could be used for collecting visual images, sending live feed through cloud, etc.
Punjab police officials for the first time succeeded in arresting a person who was operating the drone from this side of the border for smuggling drugs from Pakistan.
The accused has been identified as Lakhwinder Singh alias Lakha, a resident of a border village of Ajnala town and is involved in drug trafficking through drones. In further interrogation, he also revealed that this was not his first consignment.
Since February, there have been approximately 9-10 instances every month of Pakistani drones breaching our borders. The frequency of these incidents has escalated in June, with the Border Security Force (BSF) reporting around 8 cases in just the first 13 days of the month. The majority of these infiltrations, recorded by Border Security Force, have occurred in all border districts except Pathankot, with Amritsar being the hotspot.
For transporting larger shipments, Hexacopter drones are employed. These “six-winged drone worth Rs10 lakhs” according to DGP Punjab, are assembled with components from the USA and China and feature advanced capabilities such as long-lasting battery backup, infrared-based night vision cameras, and GPS systems.
In many of these situations, the black quadcopter4 known as “DJI Matrice 300 RTK,” which costs $13,700, is the most frequently used drone model. This drone can fly up to 55 minutes and has a range of 15 km. It also supports night vision, enables cloud connectivity for live stream feeds, and can carry a payload of up to 2.7 kilogrammes. The newest commercial drone platform from DJI is the Matrice 300 RTK. The DJI is a Chinese technological business with its main office in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and it is supported by a number of state-owned organisations.
A variety of intricate issues are brought up by the growing usage of drones in illegal activities. There are several important concerns, including how these sophisticated tools find up in the hands of drug traffickers, whether a larger network supports their use, and where the money to pay for these pricey tools came from. The heightened border security procedures make these questions more challenging.
It is obvious that the misuse of drones is not just a technology issue but also involves logistical, economic, and technological issues. The future of international security, law enforcement, and drone technology regulation will undoubtedly be shaped by how we respond, therefore addressing these issues calls for international cooperation.
(WITH INPUT SOURCE)
