NCB flags Mumbai as India's cocaine capital: Report

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday red-flagged Mumbai as the cocaine capital of India, saying that with the drug mafia is spreading its tentacles not only in India but also in Canada and Australia, Hindustan Times reported.

According to NCB officials, investigations confirmed that no less than 300 kg of cocaine landed in Mumbai in December 2018 through a syndicate with links in India, Australia and Canada. Overall, as much as 2,499 kg of cocaine seized in the past two years in Sri Lanka, Port Elizabeth and Panana had India as its destination.

Read | Mumbai has emerged as a major destination of drugs: NCB

The syndicate was uncovered after an Indian IP address was involved in the smuggling of 200 kg of methamphetamine from Canada to Australia. The address was traced to one Akshinder Singh Sodhi of Punjab, who was later arrested with 422 kg of cocaine in India, the report said.

The investigation of 55 kg of cocaine concealed in a plasma cutting machine seized in Australia in June 2019 led the NCB to uncover the syndicate's bases in India.

A probe revealed that the drug syndicate had floated fake companies for the drug to be smuggled and concealed at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand.

A subsequent SIT operation, involving multiple raids in various places including those in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Delhi, led to the arrest of nine persons, including five Indians, one American, one Indonesian and two Nigerians.

There is a rising suspicion that international drug cartels may be shifting cocaine processing from South America to India, owing to the country being one of the biggest manufacturers of potassium permanganate, the report said, citing pressure on the cartels from US, UK, Australian and Canadian intelligence agencies.