Drones carrying drugs from Pakistan to India: NCB report

India Sep 16, 2025

India is seeing a worrying spike in drugs being smuggled in by drones from Pakistan, according to a new Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) report released September 16, 2025.
Drone-related drug trafficking cases shot up from just 3 in 2021 to 179 in 2024, with Punjab hit the hardest.
The NCB warns this trend is a serious threat to internal security.

Drone seizures mostly in Punjab

Punjab saw 163 out of the 179 drone seizures—mostly carrying heroin and opium totaling about 236kg.
At the same time, synthetic drug seizures across India jumped six times since 2019, and cocaine busts skyrocketed by 78 times since 2020.
With new drugs like mescaline appearing and 483 traffickers detained in just one year, ramped-up enforcement is more urgent than ever.