India’s Coastal Drug Trafficking Crisis: A New Battleground

India's coastal states are emerging as significant hotspots for the smuggling of synthetic drugs, as indicated by the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Annual Report 2024. This alarming trend highlights the increasing exploitation of maritime routes by drug trafficking networks, with substantial seizures and arrests reported over the past five years.

The report reveals that the relatively weaker surveillance on maritime routes in comparison to land borders has made them attractive targets for drug cartels. Consequently, the amount of drugs seized in maritime smuggling cases has surged nearly 500-fold since 2019. In 2024 alone, authorities confiscated 10,564 kilograms of narcotics, alongside nearly 9.4 million NRX tablets and 1,000 injections.

The rise of synthetic drugs like Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is outpacing traditional drugs such as cannabis and opium. Seizures of synthetic drugs have seen nearly a sixfold increase between 2019 and 2024, with a focus now on dismantling clandestine manufacturing units across the country. Officials underscore increased enforcement on maritime routes and international collaboration as central to combating this crisis.