Drugs and bullets

1. At a Glance

• "Drugs and bullets" describes a link in Punjab between cross-border narcotics trafficking, gangster/organised crime networks and targeted killings of activists, influencers, police personnel and local politicians [1].
• Drug money from cross-border smuggling is a key source of illicit funds for gangster networks, so drug trafficking here is both a public health problem and an internal security problem [1].
• Punjab borders Pakistan, which makes it both an entry point and a market for narcotics. Drones have become a major way of moving drugs and arms across the International Border (IB) [1][3][4].
• For UPSC, this sits at the meeting point of GS-III (internal security, border management, organised crime–terror links) and GS-II (health, vulnerable sections).

2. Why in the News

• Oct 2026: A chemist was charged with killing anti-drug-trafficking activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, allegedly because Jhota threatened the chemist's illegal drug business [1].
• Social media influencer Mad Sandhu was allegedly killed in a premeditated, transnational syndicate hit that used interstate escape routes [1].
• Both incidents involved digital platforms. Together with a string of targeted killings of police personnel and local politicians, they show a serious gap in public safety [1].
• Some incidents have raised suspicion of cross-border support, and there are calls to bring in central enforcement agencies [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 1985: The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was enacted. It is the core law against drug trafficking [2].
• 2017-18: The AIIMS "Magnitude of Substance Use in India" survey was conducted. It is still the latest available estimate of opioid dependence in Punjab [1].
• Mar 2025 – Feb 2023 (three years to 28 Feb 2023): MHA told the Lok Sabha that 28 drone recoveries linked to arms and narcotics smuggling had been recorded on the Punjab–Pakistan border [3].
• 2023: The Government listed its measures against border drug smuggling: anti-drone systems in Punjab border areas, NDPS powers for the BSF, and a state Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) [2].
• 2025: The MoD Year-End Review recorded 782 drone incidents along the Punjab/Rajasthan border [4].
• 2026: Punjab sees vigilantism, syndicate assassinations and rising overdose deaths together [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Core law	NDPS Act, 1985 [2]
Border enforcement	Border Guarding Forces, including the BSF, are empowered under the NDPS Act to search, seize and arrest for illicit trafficking at the International Border [2]
State mechanism	Punjab Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), headed by a Special DGP [2]
Anti-drone	Anti-drone systems deployed in Punjab border areas. BSF is procuring more. Local police are alerted when drone movement is spotted [2]
Opioid dependence (2017-18, age 10-75)	Punjab 1.28% vs India 0.26%, about 5 times the national rate [1]
Overdose deaths, Punjab (NCRB)	89 (2023) → 106 (2024). Likely an undercount [1]
Drone incidents, Punjab/Rajasthan IB (2025)	782 incidents [4]
Drones brought down on the IB (2025)	237 total: 72 carrying narcotics, 5 carrying war-like stores, 161 with no payload [4]
Drone recoveries, Punjab (3 years to 28 Feb 2023)	28 [3]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Geopolitical / Strategic

• Punjab's location on the India–Pakistan border makes it an entry point and a market for drugs [1].
• A document submitted to the UN Human Rights Council alleges that Pakistan contributes to Punjab's cross-border drug problem through heavy use of drones. This is an allegation in a UN-circulated document, not a UN finding [5].
• Drones carry both narcotics and war-like stores, so the drug trade and arms supply overlap (narco-terror) [3][4].

Internal Security / Organised Crime

• Gangster networks are tied into the large-scale drug trade, and cross-border smuggling funds them [1].
• Transnational syndicates carry out hits using interstate escape routes, which makes clear the need for interstate and central coordination [1].
• Targeted killings of police personnel and politicians weaken state authority [1].

Social / Health

• Opioid dependence in Punjab is about 5 times the national rate [1].
• Overdose deaths are undercounted: attribution depends on medical certification and leaves out long-term complications and unhygienic drug-use habits [1].
• Vigilantism by citizens, and violence against anti-drug activists, point to low public trust in enforcement [1].

Technological

• Drones are now the main tool for smuggling across the IB: 28 recoveries in three years to 2023, against 782 incidents in 2025 [3][4].
• Digital platforms played a part in both of the 2026 killings [1].
• Counter-measures are anti-drone systems and further BSF procurement [2].

Governance / Administrative

• The national survey data is from 2017-18 and is outdated, which weakens evidence-based policy [1].
• Enforcement is layered: the BSF works at the border under NDPS powers, the state ANTF works inland, and there are demands to bring in central agencies [1][2].
• A local chemist was allegedly involved, which points to gaps in regulating pharmaceutical drugs at retail level [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• 2024: NCRB recorded 106 drug overdose deaths in Punjab, up from 89 in 2023 [1].
• 2025: The MoD Year-End Review reported 782 drone incidents on the Punjab/Rajasthan border and 237 drones brought down [4].
• 2025: A UN HRC (58th session) document carried the allegation of a Pakistani role in Punjab's drug problem [5].
• Oct 2026: Activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was killed and a chemist charged. Influencer Mad Sandhu was killed in an alleged transnational syndicate hit [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The NDPS Act was enacted in 1985 [2].
• The BSF is empowered under the NDPS Act to search, seize and arrest at the International Border [2].
• Punjab's ANTF is headed by a Special DGP [2].
• AIIMS conducted the "Magnitude of Substance Use in India" survey. Its reference year is 2017-18 [1].
• The survey's age group is 10-75 years [1].
• Opioid dependence was 1.28% in Punjab against 0.26% nationally [1].
• NCRB recorded 106 overdose deaths in Punjab in 2024, against 89 in 2023 [1].
• 782 drone incidents were recorded on the Punjab/Rajasthan border in 2025 (MoD Year-End Review) [4].
• 237 drones were brought down on the IB in 2025, of which 72 carried narcotics [4].
• MHA reported 28 drone recoveries in Punjab in the three years to 28 Feb 2023 [3].

8. Why the Drone Numbers Look Like a Sudden Explosion

• The two drone figures measure different things, so do not put them side by side
• 28 is the number of drone recoveries in Punjab alone, over three years up to Feb 2023 [3].
• 782 is the number of drone incidents in Punjab and Rajasthan together, in one year, 2025 [4].

• The count, the area and the time period are all different. So '28 to 782' does not show a 28-fold rise in smuggling.

• Part of the rise may come from better detection, not only more smuggling

• Anti-drone systems were put in Punjab's border areas, and the BSF is buying more [2].

• When you can detect more drones, you record more incidents. A higher count can partly mean the system is working.

• Most drones brought down carried nothing

• Of the 237 drones brought down in 2025, 161 had no payload (nothing on board). Only 72 carried narcotics [4].
• The data does not say why. Some may have dropped their load before being hit. Some may have been flying to test the border's defences.
• In an answer, say 'drone activity has risen sharply'. Do not say 'drug drops rose 28 times'.

9. Why Punjab Cannot Tell Whether Its Drug Policy Works

• There is no fresh starting number to measure progress against
• The only estimate of opioid dependence (being physically hooked on drugs like heroin) is from the 2017-18 AIIMS survey [1].

• Every crackdown since then has no new survey to compare against. No one can show whether addiction went up or down.

• Death figures are too low to show the real damage

• NCRB counted 106 overdose deaths in 2024 [1].
• A death counts as an overdose only if a doctor certifies it that way. Deaths from long-term harm, or from unsafe habits like shared needles, are left out [1].

• So the deaths number shows only a small part of the problem. It cannot tell us how many people are hooked.

• Who should act: the Union government should order a new national survey of the same kind as the AIIMS 2017-18 study [1], so that Punjab's 1.28% figure can be checked against today.

10. Why Guarding the Border Does Not Reach the Local Chemist

• The tools listed are built for the border
• The measures described are anti-drone systems, BSF powers under the NDPS Act, and the state ANTF [2].

• The BSF's power to search, seize and arrest applies at the International Border [2].

• But one killing in the news points to supply from inside the state

• The man charged with killing activist Parvinder Singh Jhota is a chemist, said to be protecting an illegal drug business [1].
• Medicines sold over a shop counter never cross the border. No drone, and no BSF post, will catch them.

• This side falls to the state: the ANTF, local police, and whoever checks pharmacies.

• When activists fill the gap, they become targets

• Citizens taking the law into their own hands (vigilantism) shows they think enforcement is failing [1].
• Jhota's case shows the danger. A person who exposes a local seller can be killed by that seller [1].
• Who should act: Punjab's ANTF should protect people who report drug sellers, not leave them to act alone.

11. Is Pakistan the Main Cause? The Case Against, and Its Limits

• The strongest opposing argument
• Blaming the border lets the state look away from problems at home: people who want drugs, and local sellers like the accused chemist [1].

• The claim of a Pakistani role comes from a document circulated at the UN Human Rights Council. It is not a UN finding [5].

• What this argument gets right

• Supply from inside the state is real, as the chemist case shows [1].

• Opioid dependence in Punjab is five times the national rate [1]. That kind of demand will find a supplier even if one route is closed.

• What it gets wrong

• The cross-border route is not just a claim. Drones brought down on the IB in 2025 included 72 carrying narcotics and 5 carrying war-like stores (weapons and ammunition) [4].

• Drugs and weapons coming in by the same route is why this is a security issue (narco-terror), not only a health issue [3][4].

• Balanced line for Mains: cross-border supply is real and armed. But it feeds a demand that was built at home, and that demand is what border tools cannot touch.

12. Why Calling In Central Agencies Is Not a Simple Fix

• Why the demand exists
• The killers in the Mad Sandhu case are said to have escaped through interstate routes, as part of a transnational syndicate (a gang working across countries) [1].

• Punjab Police's power ends at the state's border. A gang that crosses states and countries goes beyond what one state can handle alone.

• Why it is still a hard choice

• Police and public order are State subjects under the Constitution. Sending in central agencies touches Centre–State balance.

• Enforcement is already split three ways: BSF at the border, ANTF inside the state, and possibly central agencies on top [1][2]. Each new layer adds another office that information has to pass through.

• What would help more than just adding agencies

• Punjab and the Centre need one shared system for intelligence across all these bodies, so that a drone seen by the BSF can be followed to the gang that collects the drop.
• This matters because police personnel and politicians are themselves being killed [1]. Unless they are protected, the state's authority on the ground keeps weakening.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Opioid dependence 1.28% in Punjab against 0.26% for India (age 10-75), about 5 times the national rate [1]
• Data: 782 drone incidents on the Punjab/Rajasthan IB in 2025; of the 237 brought down, 72 carried narcotics and 5 carried war-like stores [4]
• Data: NCRB overdose deaths in Punjab rose from 89 (2023) to 106 (2024), likely an undercount [1]
• Report/Committee: AIIMS 'Magnitude of Substance Use in India', 2017-18, still the latest estimate [1]; MoD Year-End Review 2025 [4]
• Law/Case: NDPS Act, 1985; BSF given search, seizure and arrest powers under it at the International Border [2]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Linkages between organised crime and terrorism; security challenges and their management in border areas; role of external state and non-state actors; use of communication networks (drones, social media) in security challenges.
• GS-II: Issues relating to health; Centre–State relations in policing; welfare of vulnerable sections.
• GS-IV: Vigilantism versus the rule of law.
• Possible question stems: 1. "The narcotics trade in Punjab is no longer merely a public health problem but a crime–terror nexus." Discuss, with reference to drone-based cross-border smuggling. 2. Examine the challenges that technology, such as drones and digital platforms, poses to border management and internal security. Suggest counter-measures. 3. "Weak data hampers India's drug policy." Critically analyse with reference to substance-use surveys and overdose mortality reporting.

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• NDPS Act, 1985 (provisions and amendments): the statutory backbone of enforcement against drug trafficking.
• Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle: where the drugs entering Punjab and the North-East originate.
• BSF jurisdiction and Centre–State policing: the federal friction in border-area enforcement.
• Counter-drone technology and regulation: the main tool against smuggling across the IB.
• Narco-terrorism and terror financing: drug money funding gangs and militancy.
• Drug demand reduction (de-addiction and rehabilitation): the health side of the problem.
• NCRB data methodology: why overdose deaths are under-reported.

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• India-Pakistan border (Geography): Punjab's border with Pakistan is the entry route for drugs and arms carried by drones.
• Centre-state relations (Polity): Border enforcement by BSF and state ANTF, plus calls for central agencies, shows Union-state policing friction.
• Police (Polity): Police and public order are State subjects; killings of police and weak enforcement test state policing.
• Rule of law (Polity): Vigilantism and gangster killings of activists show a breakdown of lawful, court-based justice.
• Human rights (Polity): Addiction, overdose deaths and attacks on activists raise health and life-and-safety concerns for citizens.
• Survey (Economy): The 2017-18 AIIMS survey is the dated data behind Punjab's opioid dependence figures.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Year of the AIIMS survey: the data is from 2017-18, not 2024-26. It is still the "latest available" [1].
• National vs Punjab figures: 0.26% is the national opioid dependence rate and 1.28% is Punjab's. Don't swap them [1].
• Drone figures: 782 is the number of incidents, while 237 is the number of drones brought down. The 782 covers Punjab and Rajasthan together [4].
• Status of the UN document: the Pakistan allegation appears in a document circulated at the HRC. It is not a UN resolution or finding [5].
• BSF powers: the BSF's power to search, seize and arrest under the NDPS Act is a delegated statutory power. It does not make the BSF the main investigating agency [2].