‘Meth’ empire on invasion of India

At one time, the Golden Crescent consisted of mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Eastern Iran (Helmand and Kandahar Provinces) and the Golden Triangle covered the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar at the confluence of Ruak and Mekong rivers. The Golden Triangle was controlled by Khun Sa, a drug lord and his Mong Tai Army of 20,000 (net worth $5.65 billion) who was responsible for 70% of world’s supply of Heroin. With concerted action taken against this drug lord in 1996 and after his death on October 26, 2007, the quantities of opium produced and its conversion into heroin had considerably reduced. However, even now in Myanmar 29,500 hectares are now under opium cultivation yielding roughly 405 tonnes of opium.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the area covered under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan expanded from 8,000 hectares in 2001 to 2,24,000 hectares in 2020, that is 37% more compared to 1,63,000 hectares in the previous year. According to UNODC, the opium economy in Afghanistan was estimated at $1.2 billion to $2.1 billion annually, i.e., roughly 6-11 per cent of its GDP. This scenario appears to have changed significantly, since 2020.

What worries the law enforcement agencies is a shift from opium cultivation to the production of methamphetamine (a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It takes the form of a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol) from ephedrine. A recent report published by the European Union Drug Agency (EMCDDA) mentioned the emerging evidence of Afghanistan’s role as a leading producer and supplier of ephedrine and methamphetamine. Ephedra plants grow wild in the Afghanistan’s central highlands. Ephedra plants are the source from which ephedrine is extracted which is used as a precursor chemical in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The move to plant-based production in the district of Bakwa (Farah Province of south-west Afghanistan) appears to have a two-tier system involving two types of laboratories. At the first stage, ephedrine is extracted from ephedra plants by semi-skilled workers and thereafter methamphetamine is made from ephedrine by specialist chemists. Extracting ephedrine from ephedra plant is easy and it is estimated that there are at least 300-350 suspected ephedrine sites, ranging from small households to larger factories. It is estimated that in Bakwa itself around 100 tonnes of ephedrine per month (from 3000 tonnes of dried ephedra) is produced and this can generate around 65 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine a month.

It is estimated that around 500 methamphetamine laboratories are required to process the amount of ephedrine that is produced. However, it is difficult to estimate the total amount of methamphetamine produced in Afghanistan. According to informed analysts, the degree to which producers in Bakwa have adopted new technologies and established methamphetamine production with a global impact would indicate how drug markets can adopt and change, keeping in mind, the cost of methamphetamine vis-à-vis cocaine and as a drug of preference. The traffickers are also using the well-established trafficking routes between South West Asia towards India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Australia and sometimes to countries in Africa.

A reduction in cultivation of opium poppy and its conversion into heroin may alter the type of drugs consumed, as people are likely to turn to synthetic drugs. Methamphetamine, a psycho-stimulant also known as ‘meth’, ‘glass’ and ‘ice’ is slowly replacing heroin and cocaine since it is cheaper than cocaine and almost the same price of heroin. Its effect lasts for 12 hours. It’s a stimulant, unlike heroin which is a depressant. Heroin users are shifting to meth due to the fact that it gives a ‘better kick’.

During the last three or four years the seizures of meth made would indicate the influx of this drug into India. In 2019-20, 1,408 kg of methamphetamine was seized by the NCB in maritime operations, as part of operation “Samudragupt”. In February 2022, a joint team of the Indian Navy and NCB seized 529 kg of hashish and 221 kg of methamphetamine and 13 kg of heroin off the coast of Gujarat, reportedly sourced from Baluchistan. Subsequently, an Iranian boat was intercepted off the coast of Kerala resulting in the seizure of methamphetamine and heroin and arrest of 19 drug traffickers. In a joint operation by the NCB and the Indian Navy, a vessel was intercepted off Kerala coast carrying 2,525 kg of superior quality of crystal meth.

The seizures of meth are in addition to seizures of heroin, cocaine and other synthetic drugs.

Haji Salim runs the main syndicate that smuggles the major portion of Afghan heroin, meth and other illicit drugs to India, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and some middle east countries. He heads a criminal syndicate operating out of Karachi and collaborates with Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI to infiltrate terrorists into J&K.

The Golden Triangle is one of the world’s leading areas for the production of methamphetamine and Yaba tablets (a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine). In Shan state, Myanmar, Sam Gor, also known as “The Company” is one of the main international crime syndicates responsible for a spurt in production of methamphetamine. The Company is made up of members of five different triads and reportedly headed by Tse Chi Lok, a Canadian gangster born in Guangzhou, China, primarily involved in drug trafficking and earning upto $8 billion per year. Sam Gor is alleged to control 40% of Asia-pacific methamphetamine market, in addition, trafficking in heroin and ketamine. Their operations, in addition to Myanmar, extend to Thailand, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and Taiwan.

The changing scenario both in the west and the east is a new challenge to the law enforcement agencies, particularly, with the lower-cost methamphetamine replacing heroin and cocaine. India needs to upgrade its strategy in its anti-narcotics operations – while firmly dealing with drug traffickers it also necessary to implement the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control.

(The writer is former DG, DRI and Member, CBIC)