India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international drug trafficking network operating between Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, seizing narcotics worth around INR 100 million and arresting five suspects.
Indian authorities said 77.6 kg of hashish oil and 2 kg of charas were seized during a coordinated operation carried out by the NCB’s Hyderabad and Chennai zonal units.
The operation began on March 3 when officers from the NCB’s Hyderabad unit intercepted a Tata Safari Storme near the Raikal Toll Plaza on the Bengaluru–Hyderabad highway in Telangana. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 2 kg of charas hidden in specially modified compartments.
Two men, one from Delhi and another from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested at the scene.
Further investigations revealed the drugs were part of a larger consignment smuggled from Kathmandu in Nepal through the Sonauli border into India.
Officials said the narcotics were transported across several states before being moved to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Acting on intelligence, the NCB’s Chennai unit conducted a follow-up operation and seized about 77.6 kg of hashish oil from three individuals, including a Sri Lankan refugee, bringing the total arrests in the case to five.
Investigators said the traffickers had planned to transport the drugs from the Thoothukudi coast and transfer them mid-sea to a Sri Lankan contact using a fishing boat.
With assistance from the Indian Coast Guard, the suspected boat was intercepted near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), preventing the transfer.
Authorities said a Sri Lankan national believed to be the intended recipient of the consignment and the person who financed and coordinated the shipment from Nepal has also been identified.
Further investigations are underway to trace the financial network and identify other members of the trafficking syndicate. (Newswire)
