Between October 1 and October 13, 2024, coinciding with the Navratri festival, India witnessed a significant surge in cocaine seizures. On October 1, the Delhi Police Special Cell raided a warehouse in Mahipalpur, Delhi, confiscating 562 kilograms of cocaine and 40 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana. Shortly after, on October 10, another 208 kilograms of cocaine was seized from a shop in Ramesh Nagar, Delhi. Investigations revealed that the drugs belonged to a company that received them from a pharmaceutical firm in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. In just two weeks, law enforcement agencies seized 1,289 kilograms of cocaine and 40 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana, with a street value of ₹13,000 crores, from Delhi and Gujarat alone.
India has seen a growing influx of cocaine recently. On June 27, 2024, Chennai Airport customs officials intercepted 2.2 kilograms of high-quality cocaine from a woman who had smuggled it from Nigeria via Doha, concealing the drugs in a hidden compartment in her shoe heels. The cocaine was valued at over ₹2 crores on the international market.
Earlier, on June 16, 2024, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) made one of its largest hauls at Kochi Airport, seizing 195 cocaine capsules from two Tanzanian nationals arriving from Ethiopia via Doha. X-ray screenings revealed the capsules inside their stomachs. Following medical extraction, authorities recovered 1.94 kilograms of cocaine from the man and 1.34 kilograms from the woman, with the total haul valued at ₹32.42 crores. Similar operations took place in April and July 2024, when Kenyan nationals were caught smuggling liquid cocaine in shampoo bottles at Kochi and Mumbai airports.
The rise in cocaine inflow into India is part of a larger global trend. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Cocaine Report 2023, worldwide cocaine production reached record levels, with nearly 2,000 tons produced in 2020. Cocaine usage is also rising globally, with more users than ever before. Traffickers employ increasingly sophisticated techniques, including impregnating cocaine into textiles, rubber, and other materials, requiring complex chemical extraction for detection.
Additionally, the 2022 report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), titled "A Powder Storm," highlights that Mombasa port and key airports in East and Southern Africa serve as major transit points for cocaine entering Asia. Cocaine, derived from the coca plant native to South America, is a highly addictive stimulant drug that poses severe health risks, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, and sudden death.
Delhi and Gujarat, already under scrutiny following the massive 2021 heroin bust of 2,988 kilograms at Mundra Port, continue to be hotspots for drug seizures. The Gujarat-Delhi axis is emerging as a critical zone, not just due to market dynamics but also because of its implications for national security. Drug traffickers seek to evade state action by influencing political and legal systems, as heightened enforcement efforts increase the costs of their operations. Meanwhile, foreign intelligence agencies may look to exploit vulnerabilities along India’s western border and in the capital, raising concerns about the potential for destabilization similar to the situation in Manipur.
The writer is Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics
