The focus of agencies such as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing scores of narcotics-related cases has shifted completely to the South of Bharat in the last couple of years.
This is largely to do with the fact that the drug cartels have also moved to this part of the country and have set up a major network. The drug cartel has had a field day thanks to the complicity in the manner in which the local administration in the southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, have handled the issue.
The new big drug lord, Haji Salim, who has replaced Dawood Ibrahim to run the Indian business, has made South his home turf to run his narcotics business. He oversees the operations from Pakistan under the protection of the ISI and the Dawood network. An NCB official tells Organiser that their investigations have found that he operates from Karachi and uses satellite phones that have been handed to him by the ISI. The operations are largely sea-based, and their first landing point is in Sri Lanka. From there, it is smuggled to Tamil Nadu and then distributed to the rest of the country, the NCB official said.
The Tamil Nadu government’s complicity can be derived from the fact that the Madras High Court has sought its action plan to curb the drug menace. Despite the existence of multiple agencies, the government has failed to curb the drug menace, the HC said in September. The court took note of the fact that there was free availability of drugs across the state, especially among the students.
In another ruling, the court told the (Narcotics Intelligence Bureau) NIB-CID to take note of how the NCB was conducting an investigation into cases that were filed under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
In another order, the HC directed the CBI and NCB to monitor the Tamil Nadu police during the investigations into the drug cases. These are clear indicators that the state has been complicit in the issue, which has eventually led to the massive rise in drug smuggling in Tamil Nadu. It is not a problem for just Tamil Nadu but is an issue that plagues the entire nation. This is largely because Tamil Nadu has become the sole landing point for drugs from Pakistan, following which it is distributed to different parts of the country.
A political link
The agencies, while probing the drug smuggling cases, are also closely monitoring the political links to the cases. The officials believe that the drugs could not have been smuggled with such ease unless there were some heavyweights backing this mafia.
For this, one must visit the investigation against the former DMK leader. The DMK is the ruling party in Tamil Nadu. Jaffer Sadiq was expelled from the DMK in 2021. Sadiq, who started off by dealing with metal scrap, fish trade and hospitality towards the Tamil Nadu film industry, was found to be dabbling in the drug trade.
During the course of the investigation, the ED learnt that Sadiq attempted to layer and launder the proceeds of the international drug trafficking syndicate. He was operating this racket along with his brothers, Mohammed Salim and Mydeen Gani. Said had started the JSM Pictures, a partnership with his stepbrother, Nagoor Kani. It had around six films under production. The ED learnt that Sadiq had used one A V S Marimuthu to route Rs 10 crore of his cash into the production company. The cash would be given to various financiers by Marimuthu. The money would then be transferred to JSM Pictures’s account as a loan for which a simple interest of 9 per cent for three months would be shown as paid. The ED recorded a total of Rs 6.31 crore as cash expenses. It was found that the money was generated from the export of drugs.
The issue was also raised by the opposition AIADMK in the state. In a letter to the Governor, R N Ravi, the AIADMK said that there is lethargy and negligence with which the issue has been handled by the state government. This stems from the fact that important functionaries of the ruling party are directly connected to the issue. It was further stated that Sadiq had used his association with the DMK to administer an international drug cartel.
The Pakistan drug cartel benefited the most
Haji Salim is now the main operator of the drug cartel in Bharat. A stooge of the ISI, his brief is to indulge in the narcotics trade and then hand over 40 per cent of the proceeds to the ISI so that terror activities could be funded. An Intelligence Bureau dossier says that Salim, like Dawood, has to give a cut of the money raised through this trade to the ISI. The ISI, on its part, offers protection to these elements and ensures that the drug trade runs smoothly.
The route to bring drugs into Bharat changed in the year 2015 when the borders with Pakistan had been tightened. Salim and Dawood were finding it almost impossible to bring drugs into India through the Indo-Pakistan border. It was around the same time that the ISI set up a terror module in its consulate in Sri Lanka.
The module did not restrict itself to sending in terrorists to South India but also supported the drug trade extensively. Salim used this to his advantage, sent his stooges to the southern states, and identified people who were well-versed with the establishment. A large part of this activity was found in Tamil Nadu as it was relatively easier to ship the contraband from Sri Lanka into Tamil Nadu. This has continued unabated since 2015, and over the years, Tamil Nadu has become a hotbed for drug-related activities. Today, the Central agencies have stepped up the heat and are closely monitoring the drug-related activities in Tamil Nadu.
Salim has, however, benefited the most from the complicity. Today, he runs an empire running into crores of Rupees, and he has been nicknamed Raktbeej in the global drug trade circles. His shipments bear the markings 777, 555, 999, flying horses, and scorpions as identification marks.
He sends out his consignment from Pakistan, and from there, it goes to Iran through Afghanistan and Malaysia before reaching Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the drug cartel uses smaller vessels or trawlers to move the contraband into Tamil Nadu.
The central agencies have launched a massive operation to shut down this trade. Earlier, an operation called Samudragupta was launched to crack down on the menace. Now, the agencies have launched Operation Sagar Manthan to wipe out this network.
