Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, the new IG (Border), faces the formidable challenge of countering drones being used by state and non-state actors in Pakistan, even as the continuous incursions of these flying machines into Punjab’s border areas fuel the flow of “white powder” among the state’s youth.Officers privately admit that the Punjab Government’s anti-drug campaign, Yudh Nashian Virudh, will continue to lack teeth if drones keep crossing the wire fence from Pakistan.On a conservative estimate, two drones a day enter the border villages falling under the Gurdaspur and Amritsar (Rural) police districts.The drones have fundamentally altered the landscape of illicit smuggling, emerging as a primary tool for international drug syndicates to push heroin into the hands of unsuspecting youngsters.Former Governor Banwarilal Purohit had aptly summed up the gravity of the situation after visiting border villages, saying that “heroin was available like toffees”.By exploiting cheap, commercially available components and advanced satellite communication networks, criminal syndicates are increasingly able to bypass traditional physical barriers, fencing and ground-based surveillance, dropping high-value contraband directly into targeted locations in Punjab.A senior police officer said drone-assisted smuggling had risen exponentially in the state. “Punjab is the worst-hit state in the country and accounts for nearly 98 per cent of all drone-related cases nationwide,” he claimed.Officers have informed the new IG that high-grade Afghan heroin and synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine are regularly recovered from villages located near the international border.The nature of drone incursions has also evolved, from primitive commercial quadcopters to highly sophisticated machines. Earlier, drones generally flew at low altitudes and were more readily detected and brought down by the BSF and police. Of late, however, they are reportedly operating at much higher altitudes, making interception and recovery more difficult.An even more worrying development is the reported use of advanced technology to erase flight logs and GPS-coordinate histories after landing or interception, making it difficult for investigators to establish their precise launch points in Pakistan.Officers engaged in tackling the menace say drones often operate under the cover of darkness or poor-visibility conditions such as fog and bad weather. They are used for quick “drop-and-go” operations over pre-designated agricultural fields.The police are taking several measures to check the menace. The “Baaj Akh” (Hawk Eye) anti-drone system has been deployed near the wire fencing to detect and neutralise unauthorised aerial objects within a range of several kilometres.The police have also constituted Village Level Defence Committees (VLDCs), which serve as the eyes and ears of the force in border villages by promptly reporting suspicious drone activity and low-flying sounds.IG Gurpreet Bhullar, therefore, has an onerous task on his hands. His colleagues say that even if he succeeds in bringing down 50 per cent of drones entering Punjab, it would amount to one of the biggest victories of his policing career.