According to the latest data provided by the Border Security Force (BSF), the personnel in 2020 made a record 517-kilograms haul of heroin, which is the highest seizure in the past five years from along the International Border (IB) in Punjab, reports The Indian Express on March 7. The drug recovery in 2020 witnessed almost a three-fold rise compared to 2019 (228 kilograms). BSF soldiers also shot dead eight drug smugglers and intruders in separate encounters in 2020 and arrested 13 of them. “The number of intruders trying to cross over, came down last year as we reacted swiftly,” said a senior BSF official.
In 2020 in a humanitarian gesture, the force handed over six Pakistanis to the Pakistan Rangers after they had inadvertently crossed the IB. “With almost every drug consignment, weapons too are sent along. The most common weapon is a .30 bore pistol,” said a BSF officer.