Anti-Drone Cop Helped Smugglers Clear 24 Drug Deliveries in Tarn Taran, NCB Probe Findsਡਰੋਨ-ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਸਿਪਾਹੀ ਨੇ ਤਸਕਰਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ 24 ਖੇਪਾਂ ਪਾਰ ਕਰਵਾਈਆਂ, ਐੱਨਸੀਬੀ ਜਾਂਚ ਵਿੱਚ ਖੁਲਾਸਾ

The man posted to stop drug drones at the Pakistan border was, investigators allege, the one guiding them in. Karandeep Singh, a Punjab Police constable serving with the anti-drone unit in Tarn Taran district, allegedly helped cross-border smugglers clear at least 24 heroin deliveries since June 2026, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has found, Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

Singh was intercepted by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Tarn Taran on 15 October while allegedly transporting 15 kg of high-grade heroin, and the NCB later took over the case. The scale of his alleged double life emerged during questioning this week.

How the alleged system worked

According to an NCB officer quoted by Hindustan Times, Singh used operational knowledge of anti-drone deployments in the district to tell handlers across the border where consignments could be dropped with the least risk of interception. He began taking deliveries in June, and from August he was also supplying the drop-zone locations themselves. Investigators matched his communications with Pakistan-based handlers against the locations he shared and say they can confirm at least 24 deliveries. The China-made drones used by the traffickers typically carry between 5 kg and 15 kg of heroin on each flight.

A cover built inside the force

The alleged betrayal came with camouflage. On two occasions Singh passed tips to the police that led to drug seizures, an NCB officer said, and he obtained an arms licence for a personal weapon by claiming his life was under threat because he helped bust drug cases. Investigators say the moves were designed to protect his standing inside the force while the trafficking continued.

They target vulnerable people

Singh told interrogators that he had himself been addicted to heroin, and that traffickers exploited that vulnerability, a second officer said. People contacted him through encrypted calls from Pakistan earlier this year and drew him into smuggling in return for a share of drugs and money. The officer said Pakistani smugglers deliberately target vulnerable people, including villagers along the border, and that Singh's questioning is continuing.

The Rajoke route that never died

On Tuesday, Punjab media reported the arrest of Singh's alleged associate Lakwinder Singh, a former sarpanch of Rajoke, a border village in Tarn Taran now in NCB custody. A BSF officer said Lakwinder Singh had been on the force's radar for a long time: his house was searched repeatedly without evidence being found, but forensic analysis of recovered drones showed flight paths passing over or near his house again and again, with consignments dropped by hook close by. At least 11 drones have been shot down around Rajoke since 2023, though seizures there had fallen sharply since 2025, leading local officers to believe the route was dead. The arrests, the officer said, showed the traffic had not stopped; it had only become smarter.

An insider problem bigger than one constable

Drone smuggling is now the main channel for heroin entering Punjab. National enforcement data cited in the report recorded 305 drone-related seizure cases across India in 2025, recovering 468 kg of narcotics; Punjab alone accounted for 298 of those cases and 461 kg, mostly heroin. Nor is Singh the first insider accused this season: on 26 September, Punjab Police arrested an inspector posted with the counter-intelligence unit for allegedly smuggling 3.35 kg of heroin, six pistols and six mobile phones.

Who is Karandeep Singh?

He is a Punjab Police constable posted with the anti-drone unit in Tarn Taran. The BSF arrested him on 15 October with 15 kg of heroin, and the NCB is now questioning him.

How many deliveries is he linked to?

Investigators say his communications with Pakistan-based handlers and the drop zones he shared confirm at least 24 heroin deliveries since June 2026.

What happens next?

The NCB is continuing to question Singh and his alleged associate Lakwinder Singh, and investigators are working to map the wider network on both sides of the border.