IndiGo Aircraft Engineer Arrested With Heroin At Leh Airport

An IndiGo Aircraft Maintenance Engineer was arrested at Leh Airport by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), after recovering heroin from his possession.

The accused, 22-year-old Ajay Thakur, a resident of Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, is presently employed with IndiGo at Leh Airport. During routine patrolling in the city, a team of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force intercepted a vehicle and recovered 2.27 grams of heroin from Thakur's possession. Subsequently, an FIR under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against him, and investigations are on.

The development follows a series of successful ANTF operations in recent weeks that have exposed the growing interstate network of drug traffickers attempting to target the youth of Ladakh.

The investigation is now focused on establishing the source of the contraband and identifying possible links between airport employees, interstate suppliers and local drug peddlers. Investigating agencies are examining whether the accused was acting independently or as part of a larger network involved in facilitating the movement and distribution of narcotic substances into Ladakh.

Since the beginning of 2026, law enforcement agencies across the Union Territory have registered 33 NDPS cases, arrested 27 accused persons, and seized a wide range of narcotic and psychotropic substances.

Official data reveals that security and enforcement agencies have seized 3.523 kg of charas, 4.9 kg of ganja, 40.39 grams of heroin, 1.709 kg of brown sugar, 289 mg of cocaine, besides other narcotic substances during various operations conducted across the Union Territory. Among the districts, Leh registered 13 NDPS cases with 17 arrests, followed by Kargil (5 cases, 2 arrests), Changthang (5 cases, 5 arrests), Nubra (3 cases, 1 arrest), Zanskar (2 cases, no arrest), Drass (2 cases, no arrest) and the ANTF registering 7 cases and making 2 arrests.

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has directed law enforcement agencies to intensify intelligence-led operations against drug trafficking, dismantle interstate supply chains and take stringent action against every individual involved in the illegal narcotics trade.

Citizens, parents, educational institutions, religious organisations and civil society have been urged to encourage and help vulnerable youth stay away from drugs.