Pakistani drug cartels expand tentacles in India and Sri Lanka, point recent drug seizures

The seized elements are suspected to be of Afghanistan origin.

“Three routes are traditionally used for global distribution of Afghan heroin: the Balkans, Central Asian countries and the Indian subcontinent. Since 2015, there has been a decline in seizures on the Balkans and Central Asian routes. However, they have of late increased in the subcontinent,” an enforcement agency official told The Hindu newspaper of India.

The Coast Guard detected 200 kg of heroin on a Pakistan fishing vessel, named Al-Madina, off Gujarat on May 21. Four Pakistan nationals were arrested. On May 6, an Iranian boat, allegedly transporting large quantities of narcotics, was seized by the Maldivian authorities west of Baa Atoll. Seven crew members were arrested, reported the newspaper.

The Hindu reported that in another case, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), together with the Coast Guard, seized 100 kg of heroin from an Iranian boat off Porbandar and arrested nine Iranian nationals in March.

Later, officials investigated to find that the consignment was sent by Pakistan national Hamid Malek.

An Afghan national was arrested from Lajpat Nagar in Delhi and another suspect from Kerala as a follow-up to the incident.

On March 24, enforcement officials in southern Sri Lanka seized over 107 kg of heroin from an Iranian vessel, reported The Hindu.

In July, in Sri Lanka, two boats carrying banned drugs from Karachi were intercepted by Sri Lankan Coast  after they got a tip-off from the Indian security agencies.

Intelligence agencies suspect that Pakistani drug cartels were behind the terror attack financing in Sri Lanka as they are using the sea route of Sri Lanka to transport them to Europe since the crackdown on Central Asian and Russian drug routes.

Inland seizures have also pointed to the role of Pakistan-based syndicates, the official told The Hindu.

A case in point is the seizure by the Customs at the Attari Integrated Check Post in June of 532 kg of heroin and 52 kg of other drugs. They had been declared rock salt. The alleged kingpin, Tariq Ahmed Lone of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested, along with importer Gurpinder Singh, reported the newspaper.

An official told the Indian newspaper: "The consignment was booked in the name of Global Vision Impex, a front for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in Lahore."

The seizure took place just days after India had suspended cross-border trade through Kashmir.

It was reportedly suspected by the Indian officials that the route was being used to push in drugs and weapons.

Agencies have reportedly discovered in several cases that the drug money was used to fund terror activities.

“After demonetisation, there has been no major seizure of Indian fake currency notes printed in Pakistan. This has forced the ISI-backed groups to raise funds by trafficking drugs. The first high-quality seizure — of over ₹7 crore in counterfeit currency notes — was made at the Kathmandu airport in March. Three Pakistan nationals were arrested,” the official told Hindu.

A Punjab leader recently accussed that it was Pakistan which was responsible for targeting youth in Punjab by smuggling drugs. 

Calling it a proxy war against Indian Punjab, Karnail Singh Peer Mohammed, a patron at All India Sikh Students Federation was quoted as saying by ANI news agency, "The drugs are coming from Pakistan and it is becoming a challenge for us to control the drug supply."

"It's a matter of 'do or die' for us. Our children and youngsters are becoming increasingly addicted to drugs," he said.

ANI news agency reported that according to Indian security agencies, Pakistan is also using countries in the neighbourhood, particularly Sri Lanka and the Maldives to pump drugs into India.

The Punjabi Sikh leader demanded for talks between India and Pakistan and said: "Our government must speak with Government of Pakistan. We are facing a major loss. We don't have any other agenda except saving the youth of Punjab from the menace of drugs. It is forcing people to migrate from Punjab to other countries. Drug menace is a major issue for us."

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi conducted the first comprehensive study in 2015 to estimate the magnitude of drug addiction in Punjab - and the report concluded that there were more than 200,000 addicts in the state, reported BBC.

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