A bulk of the heroin seized by the Indian Navy and Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) from an Iranian flagged vessel off Kochi was possibly bound for ‘target markets’ in the U.S. and Europe via Sri Lanka, according to top drug and Customs enforcement officials.
They attributed the resurgence in heroin smuggling to a bumper opium crop in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. An IRS official, who also trains the Navy and Indian Coast Guard in drug enforcement, noted that the demand for heroin in India had dwindled due to a marked shift in consumption patterns.
In powdered gypsum
“The accent is on synthetic drugs, chiefly MDMA, ephedrine and methamphetamines,” he said. However, international drug smugglers used Indian ports of call as safe houses for concealing heroin sourced from Afghanistan to dodge severe cargo profiling at foreign ports. "A shipment from Iran, Pakistan, or Afghanistan will invite a fiercer scrutiny in foreign harbours than cargo from India or Sri Lanka," he said.
For instance, a joint operation by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered 205.6 kg of heroin concealed in powdered gypsum at Kandla port in April. The importer had sourced the chemical from Afghanistan and shipped it to Gujarat from an Iranian port for export to foreign markets.
Land routes too
The same month, the DRI raided a godown in Pipavav port in Gujarat and confiscated imported thread caked in heroin residue (395 kg). Anti-narcotic investigators said heroin smugglers also used land routes. Customs enforcers confiscated 102 kg of heroin concealed in liquorice roots imported from Afghanistan at the Attari land port on the India-Pakistan border near Amritsar in February.
An amendment to the Customs Act that expanded law enforcement jurisdiction up to 200 nautical miles of the coast of peninsular India resulted in increased drug seizures on the high seas. In a typical joint operation, the NCB and the Navy had seized hashish (529 kg), crystal methamphetamine (234 kg), and heroin from a fishing vessel off the coast of Gujarat in February.
"The drug is moved from Afghanistan across the land border to Iran, from where it is shipped to other destinations, including South Africa. Arabian Sea nearer to Kerala coast is emerging as a major conduit for Afghan heroin as the Kochi drug haul indicates," a drug enforcer said.
