Cross-Border Narcotics Crisis: The Menace Linking Pakistan and Punjab

The drug menace in Punjab has long been a simmering crisis, but its roots stretch far beyond domestic boundaries.

- ■ MANMOHAN DHAR

At the heart of the problem lies a sustained and insidious campaign of cross-border narcotics smuggling, with Pakistan emerging as a significant source and enabler of the drug pipeline that has ravaged communities in Indian Punjab.

Over the past two decades, Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies have consistently flagged the increasing role of Pakistani drug syndicates, often backed by state and non-state actors, in pushing heroin, opium, and synthetic drugs across the border into Punjab. The porous nature of the international border, despite electrified fencing and surveillance, has made Indian Punjab particularly vulnerable. Narcotics are often smuggled through underground tunnels, drones, and via riverine routes, cleverly evading detection.

Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), along with Afghanistan's opium-rich Helmand region, serve as the source hubs. From there, drugs make their way into Punjab through a well-organized network of couriers, middlemen, and local dealers, many of whom are lured by the promise of easy money in the face of limited economic opportunities.