New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Mexican drug cartels are increasingly exploring local production of narcotics in India, using rented houses as clandestine manufacturing units as tighter border security makes trafficking large consignments riskier, officials said.
Officials said the trend has emerged where the cartel bosses have instructed their India operatives to find small houses and turn them into narco production units. This is the modus operandi being increasingly followed by the Mexican cartel Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación. This makes the job of the law enforcement agencies harder, as this is one of the most powerful, influential, and violent transnational criminal syndicates, the official added.
This cartel has realised that India is a major market. It does not want to risk sending big consignments as several of them have been apprehended. The major busts recently by the Indian agencies have shaken up the cartels. Moreover, the cartels understand that there is a huge demand for narcotics in the Indian market and hence, it would be safer to cater to the same by producing locally and at unassuming locations, the official said.
The funds to set up these units are directly pumped in from Mexico. It first transfers funds to Dubai using cryptocurrency, following which it makes its way into India through hawala channels. The modus operandi indicates the operations are deliberately kept low-key.
Officials said the syndicate’s operatives prefer houses in densely populated neighbourhoods, where unusual activity may attract less attention. This helps evade suspicion. Another official said the cartels have taken up multiple houses for rent and have turned them into units to produce narcotics. These units not only pose a threat to national security but also cause environmental hazards. There is a lot of untreated chemical waste these units generate. This has led to contamination of drainages, water bodies, and the local soil.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently appealed to homeowners and property dealers to remain vigilant while giving houses on rent. “Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious indicators such as unusual chemical odors, unexplained storage of drums, or heavy lab equipment to the National Narcotics Helpline MANAS at 1933, reinforcing the nation’s collective stride toward a Nasha Mukt Bharat,” an NCB advisory read.
The Mexican cartels are relatively new players in India. Initially, China was the primary source for synthetic drugs produced by the Mexican cartel. However, after regulations on fentanyl and methamphetamine were tightened, operations moved to India.
Officials say that operations are currently on a smaller scale. This cartel is still testing the waters and, over a period of time, would look to set up many more home production units in India.
The focus is also more on areas around New Delhi and Greater Noida. However, these cartels have links in Mumbai as well and would eventually look to spread their operations to more parts of the country, officials say.
In the most recent operation, the NCB seized 380 kg of methamphetamine worth Rs 50 crore from units in Greater Noida. The facility was equipped with glass reaction vessels, filtration machinery, large-capacity heating mantles and laboratory apparatus. This signals that the unit was set up in a manner to produce huge quantities of narcotics.
An Intelligence Bureau official said the recruitment pattern of the cartels is interesting. If a unit has to be set up in Delhi or Noida, it would never hire locals for the job as their faces are familiar. The preference is for Nigerian nationals or youth from the northeast. Those hired pose as students and then take up the accommodation.
In the case of students, the suspicion of the landlords or property dealers is comparatively less. Moreover, these persons do not bargain hard when it comes to the rent, and this is another reason why landlords give their homes on rent.
For the NCB and other law enforcement agencies, this adds another dimension in the battle against drugs. It is harder to track such units as they are in unassuming locations, and this is exactly what the cartel has in mind as it plans to expand operations to more parts of the country, an official said.
–IANS
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