New Delhi, Oct 12 : The alert troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday shot down a drone in Punjab's Ferozepur near the India-Pakistan border and seized a packet of heroin, a pistol, and a magazine.

While monitoring the drone activity in the border area of Ferozepur, BSF troops, immediately activated technical countermeasures to neutralise the threat from across the border. Following this, a search operation was launched in the suspected drop zone by the security forces.

After an intensive ground search, the BSF soldiers successfully located and recovered the fallen drone at 2:40 A.M. along with a suspected packet of heroin (weighing 498 grams) and an empty pistol magazine near the village of Raja Rai in the Ferozepur district.

The recovered drone has been identified as a 'DJI MAVIC 3 Classic', which was manufactured in China as was evident by the markings on it.

Taking this to the social media platform X, the BSF Punjab Frontier said in a post on Saturday, "Alert troops of BSF Punjab intercepted a Pakistani drone that violated Indian airspace. BSF personnel immediately fired at the drone, and subsequently brought it down using technical measures."

This seizure highlights the smuggling strategies employed by Pakistan-based smugglers and the swift, appropriate response of BSF personnel.

The BSF's Intelligence wing successfully thwarted another attempt at cross-border drone intrusion carrying contraband material.

Earlier on Thursday, the BSF recovered over 13 kg of heroin near the Pakistan border in Tarn Taran district, a BSF spokesperson said.

According to the BSF, the troops found six plastic bottles containing 13.160 kg of heroin from a field near Kalash village in the district. The troops were acting on a tip-off by the Intelligence wing of the border defence force.

'The information provided by the BSF Intelligence wing and swift action of the BSF troops resulted in the recovery of this huge heroin consignment which was smuggled into the country from across the border,' the BSF spokesperson added in the note.

/IANS