NCB busts international drug trafficking network operating across 3 countries

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international drug trafficking network involved in smuggling narcotic substances across Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.

Acting on credible intelligence, special teams of the agency arrested five suspects, including a Sri Lankan refugee, and seized 78.71 kg of charas and 960 grams of hashish oil.

During a coordinated multi-State operation led by officers of the NCB Southern Region, two cars, a motorcycle, and a fishing boat used to smuggle the contraband were seized, sources in the agency said.

Following a specific tip-off, special teams intercepted a car in Telangana on March 3, 2026. About 2 kg of charas concealed in specially fabricated cavities in the vehicle was recovered. Two suspects – Ayush Gupta, 21, of Delhi and Abhishek, 19, of Uttar Pradesh – were taken into custody on charges of transporting the contraband.

Further investigation revealed the gang had transported a much larger consignment of narcotic drugs from Kathmandu, Nepal, into India through the Sonauli border. A total of 158 packets of charas weighing about 78 kg, along with nearly 1 kg of hashish oil, had been sourced in Kathmandu and smuggled into India as part of the trafficking operation.

Maritime route off Thoothukudi coast

Investigators gathered intelligence indicating that the charas and hashish oil consignments were delivered to agents in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, with plans to route the narcotics to Sri Lanka through maritime channels.

NCB officials subsequently zeroed in on the agents involved in receiving and facilitating the onward movement of the narcotic consignments. They were arrested and vehicles used by them, along with incriminating evidence, were seized.

NCB officials also shared information with the Indian Coast Guard, whose personnel intercepted and seized a fishing boat suspected to have been used for the planned mid-sea transfer near the International Maritime Boundary Line, the sources said.

“We have successfully dismantled a transnational narcotics trafficking network operating across three countries. The modus operandi of the suspects was to source drugs from Nepal and smuggle them across Indian States to Sri Lanka. We have identified the kingpin, based in Sri Lanka, who financed the smuggling of the drugs from Nepal via India,” R. Sudhakar, Deputy Director-General, NCB Southern Region, Chennai, told The Hindu on Friday.

The approximate value of the drugs seized is ₹10 crore in the international market. The total quantity of narcotics smuggled by the gang to Sri Lanka so far, and whether the consignments were meant for local consumption or further transshipment to Europe or Southeast Asian countries, are under investigation.

Efforts are on to apprehend the prime suspect in Sri Lanka, who had been sourcing the drugs through coastal waters off Thoothukudi with the help of fishing boats.

“His arrest will help us identify other members of the syndicate, trace the financial trail, and dismantle the broader international network involved in drug trafficking operations,” Mr. Sudhakar said.