Sealed borders push Dawood Syndicate to ramp up local drug production

With tighter border security, the Dawood Syndicate is allegedly shifting to large-scale domestic meth production in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Agencies, including the Central Bureau of Narcotics, have seized major consignments, exposing extensive interstate networks

New Delhi: With the borders becoming harder to breach, Pakistan-based narcotic cartels are relying heavily on locals in India to produce and supply drugs.

Officials say that reliance is heavy on local manufacturing since it has become harder to smuggle drugs into India through the borders. The Punjab border which was the preferred route in recent years to smuggle narcotics, too, has become hard to breach. Pakistan has been using drones to bring in the narcotics, but now security has been tightened, as a result of which, the cartels are finding it harder to operate.

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An Intelligence Bureau official said that the Dawood Syndicate has activated several of its men in India and are asking them to mass produce narcotics locally. Dawood’s men in India are using the opium cultivation belt that already existed in the western districts of Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Rajasthan.

Today the same belt is used to manufacture MDMA. Over the last couple of months, several busts have taken place in these belts and investigations have clearly pointed to a Dawood link.

Investigators say that these cartels have set up massive labs which are capable of producing MDMA in large quantities. On February 19, the officers of the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) bust a drug manufacturing unit in Village Thavalay, which falls under Mhow Tehsil, Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. The CBN seized 43.820 kilograms of high-quality Methamphetamine or MDMA.

Over 260 kilograms of chemicals and modern equipment to produce the drugs were also seized during the raids. An official, who was part of the investigation, said that the factory that was raided comprised sophisticated modern machinery. The laboratory was capable of mass producing meth of very high grade. While some part of the narcotics were meant for internal consumption, a majority of it was meant to be smuggled out of the country. Going by the quality of the drugs, it became clear that its was meant more for the international market, the official also added.

Another official said that there has been a major push to produce the drug within India and then smuggle it out through the southern borders and the northeast. The Dawood Syndicate felt that it would be better to smuggle out the drug, rather than bring it into India. Since there is a very tight vigil along the India-Pakistan borders along the Line of Control (LoC) and Punjab, these cartels are finding it hard to bring in the drugs.

The syndicate always had a backup plan in case it would find it hard to bring the drugs through the conventional routes from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Huge sums of investments have gone into putting up these labs. The focus is extensively on meth, since it has a major market abroad.

The Dawood gang has directed Salim Dola to oversee the operations in India. Dola, who is believed to be operating from Turkey has been pumping the money to fund these labs, which have been raised in Pakistan and Dubai.

He also has activated his networks in Mumbai and Gujarat to oversee drug production in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. These states have been a major opium cultivation hub for long and hence Dola decided to tap into the old network and mass produce drugs, officials say.

Another official said that these units in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan do not operate in isolation. They are linked to networks in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

In most cases, it was found that the chemicals to mass produce the drugs had been routed in from Thane and Bhiwandi in Maharashtra. The chemicals are sent to the labs in Madhya Pradesh by road, following which the production begins. Salim Dola, who oversees the local operation has pumped in crores to set up these labs. In these labs one would find, industrial grade mixing machines, chemical reactors and chambers that are temperature controlled.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that there are many such labs, which are capable of producing meth to the tune of thousands of crores within a month.

Salim Dola, according to the official is likely to try and set up more hubs in various other parts of the country. The D-syndicate realises that the agencies are hot on their heels especially when it comes to operations in Madhya Pradesh. Efforts are on to find new locations and ensure that the constant flow of high-grade meth does not stop, the official also added.