The Border Security Force (BSF) has recorded a sharp surge in narcotics recoveries along the Punjab frontier this year. More than 850 kg of heroin smuggled from Pakistan has been seized so far, more than double the 415 kg recovered in 2025 and nearly three times the 283 kg seized in 2024.Despite intensified counter-drone measures, unmanned aerial vehicles remained the preferred mode for cross-border smuggling. While 182 drones had been recovered till September-end this year, the figure stood at around 290 in each of the previous two years.Apart from heroin, the BSF seized around 14 kg of ICE (crystal methamphetamine) and 44 kg of opium. ICE recoveries remained largely at par with 2025, when 21 kg was seized, compared with just 1.4 kg in 2024. Opium seizures, meanwhile, rose from 12 kg last year and 16 kg in 2024 to 44 kg this year.Another notable trend has been the steady rise in the trafficking of sophisticated weapons by cross-border networks. The BSF recovered 261 weapons, including assault rifles, this year, compared with about 200 in 2025 and just 36 in 2024. Recoveries of magazines also climbed sharply to 390 this year from 286 last year and 47 in 2024.Punjab Police officials said the consignments were intended for terror modules, gang networks and criminal syndicates operating in Punjab as well as other states.Atul Fulzele, IG, BSF Punjab Frontier, said smuggling networks had altered their tactics this year, prompting security agencies to recalibrate their response.”While we have launched a number of intelligence-based joint operations in the border belt, we have also expanded surveillance and enforcement up to 5-8 km inside the hinterland from the International Border. Counter-drone capabilities have been strengthened, the Punjab Police have deployed anti-drone systems and we are also developing human intelligence with the help of village defence committees,” he said. Fulzele added that coordination with agencies such as the Punjab Police and the Narcotics Control Bureau had been further strengthened to crack down on traffickers operating in border areas.He said recovery patterns showed that Amritsar and Tarn Taran continued to be the preferred infiltration corridors for Pakistan-based ISI-backed smuggling and terror networks. However, the Ferozepur sector has also witnessed a significant increase in major seizures in recent months, he added.