RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Narcotics Force has registered a first information report against a gang of drug peddlers, including a police official of Lahore involved in drug smuggling with drones and having technical support from across the border.

The FIR said Abdul Razaq, a resident of Batapur, Lahore, who had an outhouse in the village and his group made an attempt to smuggle drugs to India by drone at about 7pm on July 25, 2023.

However, the ANF had already revealed on July 26 that it unearthed a group of drug smugglers utilising drones to smuggle drugs into different parts of Punjab.

Among the four accused identified in the FIR was a police official posted at the DC office Lahore.

Although the drone the ANF recovered during the raid can ferry up to 2kg of drugs, it is unknown how many kilometers it can cover in one trip.

The ANF has termed it a big success against drug smugglers through drone in Lahore; however, raids were under way to arrest the four gang members whose identities were being withheld.

Earlier this month, the Lahore police had taken in custody a drone that allegedly crashed in fields in the Kahna area, while being used to smuggle a heavy quantity of drugs. The incident had taken place in Rasoolpura village where locals had found a drone, carrying some packets, lying in the fields.

A spokesman for the ANF Headquarters Rawalpindi had said that it foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs by aerial drones – a recent new method of drug smuggling by drone.

The spokesman said following intelligence the ANF conducted a raid at a house located in the suburbs of Lahore, recovered a drone and 5kg of heroin. In addition, the ANF also recovered two cars, one aerial drone and a 30 bore pistol during the raid.

The ANF said the four-member gang of drug smugglers had been identified and raids were under way to arrest them. Two of the suspects belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2023