New Delhi: With constant and strict vigil at borders, both in eastern and western sectors, the Border Security Force (BSF) has been able to contain the narco-trade from the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar to a greater extent, officials in the Force said.
According to the officials, in the last four years, the seizures of drugs from the neighbouring countries have gone up in both the sectors.
According to the BSF data, from January 1, 2019 to January 25, 2022, the BSF has seized over 45,874 kg of narcotics in the eastern sector while over 1,719 kg of narcotics seized in the western sector.
The officials also said that despite increase in attempts of smuggling of narcotics through various new methods such as using big pipes to push contraband, using big catapults to throw in packets and the latest by using drones, the seizures of narcotics have gone up on borders because of the alertness of the troopers.
In 2019, the total seizures of narcotics in the eastern sector was over 12,238 kg, 11,768 kg in 2020, 19,474 kg in 2021 and over 2,366 kg till January 25 this year, while it was over 304 kg in 2019, 723 kg in 2020, 645 kg in 2021 and over 46 kg till January 25, 2022 in western sector.
Admitting that drug trafficking is a constant challenge for the BSF, the sources in the Force said that BSF constantly keeps on upgrading its approaches to contain the smuggling at the borders. “We try to keep exploring the possible methods to prevent these activities as this poses a threat to the national security too,” they further said.
The sources also said that apart from illegal trade of precious metals and arms, the smuggling of Yaba tablets and cough syrup Phensedyl still poses a challenge for BSF in eastern sector, and narcotics such as heroin remains another challenge in the western sector.
Explaining the reasons behind the high numbers of seizures in eastern sector, the BSF Inspector General K. Srinivasan (Retd) said that the difficult terrains and houses on the borders are the main points from where these contrabands are being smuggled. “At many places on the eastern sector, the people are living in houses built at the international borders and at many places, the front of the House is in India while the backyards of the houses are in Bangladesh, these patches are generally used by the smugglers to send the narcotics.”
However, Srinivasan said that BSF’s intelligence network helps a lot to keep an eye on those pockets.
The BSF counterpart Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also exchanges information on smuggling of narco-trade and in recent years, both border guarding forces have developed a better and coordinated mechanism to share inputs on smuggling of drugs and other items.
The BSF organises medical camps and other initiatives for the benefits of the local population under the Civic Action programme and they develop a human intelligence network which informs the force about the smuggling of narcotics or infiltrations in the eastern sector where many patches at borders are still unfenced, the sources in the Force said.
The illegal trade of Yaba tablets and cough syrup Phensedyl to Bangladesh from India has been also a challenge for BGB and with joint efforts, the BSF and BGB have been able to contain this illegal trade.
In Bangladesh, the use of liquor is prohibited and Phensedyl is used as a substitute for liquor.
In western sector, the smuggling of narcotics through drones are posing a huge challenge for the BSF especially in Punjab and recently, the Forces have shot down many drones carrying drugs especially heroin, the sources said, adding that BSF is working on the anti-drone technology with the Defence Ministry’s research wing Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) for prior identifications of the these drones.
Last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) through a Gazette Notification, modified the areas of jurisdiction for BSF to exercise its powers in the states bordering Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
This has empowered BSF at the border areas to keep tight vigil on the smuggling network and that has fetched a good result in preventing the drug trafficking, the BSF officials said, adding that now the troopers can crack down on the narcotics’ handlers within its extended jurisdiction in bordering states.
There has been a constant apprehension after the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan that the drugs will be pushed in India through the western border at the behest of the Pakistani handlers in India, the decision to extend the jurisdiction of the BSF was the most appropriate by the government, the officials in the Force admitted.
Ms Kalinga