An ancient drug trail from Nepal via India to Sri Lanka is firing up again, putting India’s law enforcement on red alert. Dormant for a while, it’s now a hotbed for hashish oil and charas shipments, triggering coordinated busts.
Under the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ banner, NCB operatives from Chennai and Hyderabad zones executed a pan-state sweep, confiscating narcotics valued at 10 crore rupees. The pull? Sri Lanka’s exploding drug appetite amid rising abuse statistics, luring cartels to flood the market.
As an Indian Ocean stronghold, Sri Lanka intercepts flows from Nepal and Afghanistan—channeled through Pakistan and Iran—making it a smuggling superpower. South India’s Thoothukudi and Kodikkarai beaches serve as pivotal handoff points, where Indian networks pass parcels to Sri Lankan vessels offshore.
These shores echo with past opium-for-beedi deals, but today’s stakes are higher. Ports like Trincomalee, Galle, and Colombo are gateways. Seizure stats tell the tale: 35,000 in 2024 versus sporadic earlier hauls, fueled by post-2019 meth frenzy.
Sri Lankan locals—outlaws, fishers, mobs—manage the unpack, repack, and spread. Pakistan frontier crackdowns are diverting smugglers to this path, intelligence warns.
India’s syncing efforts with Nepal and Sri Lanka, while Coast Guard hauls in southbound trawlers. A Sri Lankan boss commands a trans-border empire, from Afghanistan-Pakistan-Nepal to Tamil Nadu seas.
Vowing persistence, officials are dissecting every flaw, fortifying defenses against the syndicate’s bold advances.