How a Chinese tea party led to Andaman and Nicobar Islands becoming a drug house for cartels from Kerala

In one of the biggest drug hauls, the Indian Coast Guard on Monday, November 25 seized five tonnes of drugs from a fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

“The Indian Coast Guard has apprehended a huge consignment of around five tons of drugs from a fishing boat in the Andaman waters. This is likely to be the biggest ever drug haul by the Indian Coast Guard ever,” officials said.

This is however not the first time that such a big consignment of drugs is being seized in the Islands. While the drugs being smuggled into Andaman and Nicobar Islands are meant to be supplied in other parts of the country, the problem is that over the years, there has been a huge demand for drugs in the local market.

How the addiction began

A few years back packets of branded Chinese tea was washed ashore at different locations in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However the tribespeople were unaware of what it exactly was and ended up consuming it thinking it was normal tea.

Not one of them suspected that these could be part of a drug consignment meant to be brought into the island. At the end of it, investigations found that these drugs were worth thousands of crores.

Further while investigating the case, it was learnt that on September 21 2019, the Coast Guard had seized 1,160 kilograms of narcotics from a ship which had sailed out of Myanmar. The smugglers on realising that the consignment was about to get seized threw overboard 4,000 kilograms of packets which had drugs in it.

Most of the drugs that were thrown washed ashore at various islands. This fell into the hands of the unsuspecting islanders. Most of them consumed it thinking it was tea powder and soon became addicted to it. Others who realised what the packets really contained made a business out of it.

Gradually these packets made their way into Port Blair, the Capital of Andaman and Nicobar. Soon many started realising what was being sold. There were select groups who realised the potential of the trade and began buying it from the islanders are cheap rates. Following this the drugs were smuggled into several states including Kerala through courier services and other methods.

The Kerala connection

The Kerala police got wind of what was happening and then launched an investigation. The Kerala excise department learnt that the drugs were stocked in large quantities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This information was given to them by a person they had arrested from Manjeri in 2023.

The police then nabbed three persons namely, Riyaz, Nishant and Sirajuddeen. On being questioned they realised that the mastermind was one Mohammad Saabiq. He would smuggle the drugs into Kerala and other states using courier services.

The excise department then headed to the Islands after they learnt that drugs worth over Rs 50 crore were hidden in Car Nicobar Island. They were supported in this operation by the Andaman Police and the Intelligence Bureau. Most of the drugs was destroyed in a mission that lasted five days.

The drugs were hidden in bunkers which were shaped like wells on the premises of unused guesthouses at the Malacca Village in Car Nicobar. These bunkers had first been constructed by the Japanese during the Second World War. The authorities were not aware of these storage points as most of the guest houses had been shut following the 2004 Tsunami.

The investigative agencies learnt that it is the people from Kerala who were buying the drugs at throw away prices ion the Islands following which they would smuggle to Kerala and other parts of the country.

A commitment towards a drug free Bharat

Bharat has launched several operations to curb the drug menace in the country. During Operation Sagar Manthan-4, eight Iranian nationals were arrested in the Indian waters off the Gujarat coast. 700 kilograms of methamphetamine was seized. This was a joint operation conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Indian Navy and Gujarat Police.

Following this Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that this operation only shows the government’s commitment towards making India drug free. This is the Modi’s government’s unwavering resolve to build a drug free Bharat, he also said.

In another operation, the Narcotic Control Bureau had seized 82.53 kilograms of cocaine in New Delhi.

This year, the anti-narcotic agencies have seized 3,500 kilograms of drugs transported through the maritime routes. The agencies have also arrested 11 Iranians and 14 Pakistanis in three different cases.