MUMBAI: A meticulous operation at Mumbai’s international airport has exposed a cross-border narcotics network moving cocaine through everyday commodities — and revealed how India’s anti-drug agencies are intensifying their pursuit of traffickers from airports to clandestine pharmaceutical labs.
A Routine Arrival, an Extraordinary Find
On a humid October night, as flights from Colombo streamed into Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, customs officials were already on alert. Acting on intelligence, officers from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted a woman arriving from Sri Lanka. Her luggage — nine coffee packets carefully sealed — seemed innocuous.
When officers slit them open, white powder spilled out. Tests quickly confirmed their suspicion: 4.7 kilograms of cocaine, valued at roughly ₹47 crore on the illicit market. What began as a routine passenger check soon unfolded into a multinational drug-trafficking case.
Officials said the cocaine was concealed with professional precision, a method suggesting the involvement of an experienced syndicate. The DRI swiftly apprehended the passenger and, in a chain of follow-up operations, arrested four more individuals allegedly responsible for financing, logistics, and delivery. All five now face prosecution under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985
A Wider Web Unraveled
Investigators believe the seized consignment may be part of a larger network operating between South Asia and West Africa. Senior DRI officials described the bust as “one link in a complex supply chain,” where couriers are often expendable intermediaries.
“Each arrest opens a small window into the architecture of international smuggling,” a senior enforcement officer said on condition of anonymity.
The DRI, which reports to the Finance Ministry, has stepped up airport surveillance using AI-driven profiling systems and data analytics to identify high-risk passengers. The agency’s efforts are framed within the government’s campaign for a “Nasha Mukt Bharat” — a drug-free India — an initiative that pairs enforcement with community prevention. Yet for every interception, investigators admit, several consignments may still evade detection.
From Air Routes to Pharma Labs
Only days before the Mumbai seizure, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) uncovered a different kind of narcotics operation — this time rooted in domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. In Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, NCB officers dismantled what they described as an “illegal medicine plant” producing the sedative Alprazolam, recovering 13.7 kilograms of the substance worth over ₹3.4 crore.
Among those arrested were Roop Singh Chauhan, a former pharmaceutical-firm operator, and Abhijeet Singh Chauhan, a former Red Cross official. Both men were well-educated, one holding a B.Tech and the other a pharmacy degree — a sign, officials said, that narcotics production in India is increasingly blending scientific expertise with criminal enterprise.
The NCB noted that Roop Singh Chauhan had been out on bail in an earlier NDPS case, underscoring a pattern of repeat offenders exploiting regulatory loopholes in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
An Escalating National Campaign
Officials say these successes are emblematic of the government’s broader policy direction under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a “Drug-Free India.” The challenge, however, lies not just in intercepting shipments but in tracking the financial systems, chemical supply chains, and digital routes that enable them.
