Meth cartels and ISI: How Kerala became India’s narco transit point

Kerala has seen rising drug incidents as Pakistan-linked Dawood syndicate, allegedly backed by the ISI, shifts meth trafficking via Sri Lanka into Kerala. Corruption, compromised prison staff, long coastlines and Nigerian facilitators enable large-scale smuggling into India and Southeast Asia

New Delhi: There has been a marked rise in the number of drug-related incidents in Kerala in recent years. Security agencies say they had sensed a pattern setting in where the drug smuggling routes would be predominantly through the southern states.

However, the suspension of four prison officials in Kerala for trafficking narcotics to inmates clearly indicates that there is a rot within the system, which has ensured that the drug menace has become big in the state.

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Nearly 95 per cent of the narcotics market is under the control of the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate. This is the same syndicate which is backed by the ISI that managed to compromise the state of Punjab. The drugs from Pakistan would enter Punjab in large numbers before it is circulated to the rest of the country. However, this route has become too obvious, and the security agencies have managed to curb this menace to some extent.

The D-syndicate realised that in order to expand, it would need to tap into the southern markets. This is when it decided to create modules in Sri Lanka. The drugs from Pakistan would land in Sri Lanka before it is smuggled into India by sea.

Officials say that one of the most preferred drugs in Kerala is methamphetamine or meth. There is also a huge demand for this drug in the rest of the country, and sensing the same, the syndicate decided to make Kerala a transit point.

Officials say that Kerala is a favoured destination owing to several factors, such as the long coastline and the proximity to international borders. The operations are overseen by Haji Salim, who is a member of the D-Syndicate. He is in charge of all the operations in South India.

Over the last couple of years, Salim has managed to build a deep-rooted network in South India through his operations in Kerala.

Central agencies have often complained that there is corruption within the system, due to which the monitoring is very low. This has made it easy for the drug smugglers to get the drugs into Kerala from Sri Lanka and then circulate them across the country.

Once the meth lands in Kerala, it is smuggled into the rest of the country through the land borders that the state has with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In recent times, it has also been found that the Andhra Pradesh border is used to smuggle cannabis.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that the drugs are mainly smuggled into the northeastern states from Kerala. However, in recent times, drugs that land in Kerala are also smuggled with the help of international cartels into Thailand and other foreign countries.

The drug smuggling into Thailand is at its highest as there is a very high demand for the same. The D-syndicate has roped in a large number of Nigerians to execute this trade. The Nigerians, who gained experience in this trade while operating in Goa, are now taking over the international operations for the D-Gang.

Officials dealing with the menace say that these cartels are not smuggling meth in small numbers. Their deals are audacious in nature, and the recent seizure of meth worth Rs 30,000 crore at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is proof of the same. However, after this seizure, these cartels have changed their modus operandi. They are now bringing in drugs in smaller quantities, as this makes the possibility of detection low.

Every tactic at their disposal is being used to avoid detection. The ISI is very reliant on this trade after the Indian agencies have successfully put down the fake currency racket to a large extent. The funds that are generated through this trade are used to fund terror against India, and hence, this trade is of extreme importance to the Pakistani spy agency.