How Indian airports are becoming hubs for drug-trafficking?

Airports are often the major hubs for drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and acts of terrorism. In this context, the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), a UNODC, World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Police Organization (INTERPOL) initiative aims to enhance the capacity of international airports in the detection and interdiction of illicit trafficking and suspicious passengers in origin, transit and destination countries.

The most worrisome problem, across the globe, is the unabated stream of passengers bringing drugs, from different countries, concealing them on their person, and in body cavities.

A bird’s eye view of a few major drug seizures at Indian airports, in the year 2024, is an eye-opener about the magnitude of the problem. DRI officials intercepted one male Venezuelan passenger at the CSMI Airport, Mumbai on January 16, 2024.

A total of 57 capsules containing 628 grams of cocaine, valued at Rs. 6.2 Crores, was recovered from him. In February, 2024, Customs Officials at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru apprehended a 40-year-old Venezuelan passenger flying from Dubai (UAE) to Bengaluru. Throughout the journey, the passenger had refused to consume anything, including water. This raised red flags.

He was detained and subjected to a medical examination. It turned out that the passenger had capsules containing 920 grams of cocaine in his belly. The drugs were worth ₹9.2 crore, one of the biggest seizures at the KIA in 2024.

Similarly, in March 2024, DRI officers arrested one female passenger of Sierra Leone nationality who came from Nairobi to CSMI Airport, Mumbai. A total of 1,979 grams of cocaine valued at Rs 19.79 Crore, was recovered from her.

In April 2024, Directorate of Revenue (DRI) officials seized 1.108 kg of cocaine worth Rs 11 crores at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Mumbai, and arrested a Sierra Leone national who was trying to smuggle cocaine valued at Rs 11 crore concealed in 74 capsules in his stomach, an official said.

Moreover, in April 2024, the DRI seized cocaine worth ₹6.68 crore from a Kenyan national at the Kochi airport. Fifty capsules, containing 668 grams of cocaine, were extracted from the passenger’s stomach. In May 2024, DRI officers intercepted one Cote D’Ivore national at the CSMI Airport, Mumbai.

He purged a total of 77 capsules containing 1468 grams of cocaine, valued at Rs. 15 Crores. In June 2024, In one of the big drug seizures in recent times, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested a 40-year-old Indonesian man at the Chennai International Airport for allegedly smuggling in 3.3 kg of high-grade cocaine worth approximately Rs 30 crore from Thailand. This was the fourth seizure in the last six months in Chennai airport.

A total of Rs 100 crore worth of cocaine has been seized. In June 2024, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized cocaine from two Tanzanian nationals at Kochi airport. The accused had arrived from Ethiopia via Doha at the Kochi airport bringing drugs worth Rupees 32 crores.

Around 100 capsules, all of which tested positive for cocaine, were recovered from the male passenger. The initial seizure of 1.94 kg of cocaine was worth ₹19 crores. From the woman passenger another 95 capsules, containing 1.34 kg of cocaine worth ₹13.42 crore, were recovered.

Again, in July 2024, DRI officials intercepted a Kenyan woman passenger at Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and recovered 57 capsules of cocaine, worth Rupees 10 crores which she had consumed.

Furthermore, in August 2024, Customs officials at Delhi IGI Airport arrested a Tanzanian man who had ingested 63 capsules filled with cocaine worth nearly Rs 15 crore. In September 2024, DRI, arrested a Brazilian woman national at Mumbai Airport who ingested 124 capsules containing 973 grams of cocaine. Again, in October 2024, Delhi Special Cell Police arrested Jitendra Pal Singh, from the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar in Punjab as he was trying to flee to the United Kingdom. His name was linked to the seizure of over 500 kg of cocaine the largest ever recorded in the national capital and valued at around Rupees 5,000 crores.

Recently, in November 2024 DRI officials at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad, intercepted drugs worth Rs 7 crore ($840,000), marking one of the largest drug seizures at the facility this year. Officials discovered 7.096 kilograms of hydrophobic weed which led to the arrest of two passengers who had arrived on a flight from Bangkok to Hyderabad. The above are just a few instances, at a few major airports in the country.

One can safely conclude that all international airports have become gateways for flow of drugs into the country. Another unique feature is that; drugs are mostly being brought in by foreign nationals both male and female. Traffickers use a variety of methods to smuggle drugs through airports, including concealment in luggage, clothing, and even the human body. Hiding the drugs in other material, such as powders and liquids, has become popular as it not only disguises the drugs themselves, but makes it more difficult for certain analytical technologies employed by law enforcement to identify the drugs. In the USA in 2023, seizures were equivalent to more than 390 million lethal doses of the drug fentanyl. The 2024 fentanyl seizures, already represents over 302 million deadly doses.

If similar statistics are brought out for the Cocaine seizures in India, the figures would be shocking. The only solution is to make NDPS stringent like in Singapore and Gulf countries.

(The writer is Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics)