Sri Vijaya Puram: In a span of just 24 hours, two separate anti-narcotics operations have led to the arrest of two individuals and the seizure of over 7.5 kilograms of ganja in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The back-to-back interceptions, carried out on June 16 and 17, not only point to a rising influx of narcotics but also raise concerns over the methods traffickers are now using, including routine air travel, common packaging, and mislabelled consignments, to smuggle drugs into the remote island territory.
The first seizure was made on June 16, when a passenger arriving from Kolkata was apprehended at the Veer Savarkar International Airport (VSI) based on specific intelligence inputs. The individual, identified as Sushavan Mukherjee alias Mukherjee Pandit, aged 34 and a resident of Rangat, was intercepted at the airport’s exit gate. Officials discovered a navy-blue air bag with an Air India Express tag. Upon checking, the bag revealed six brown-taped packets concealed among clothes. Field testing confirmed the presence of ganja, and the total weight of the contraband was recorded as 5.965 kg. He was immediately taken into custody and booked under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act, 1985.
The second incident occurred the very next day, June 17, when law enforcement, acting on a tip-off, carried out a surveillance operation near Shivram Complex in Mohanpura. Officers observed a man with a white plastic bag waiting near the Andaman Sea Airways office. On questioning, he identified himself as Kavoor Hemant Rao, also 34, and a resident of Anarkali, Sri Vijaya Puram. The bag, initially marked with a commercial challan and appearing to contain fishing nets, was searched further. Two brown-taped packets of suspected narcotics were discovered inside. After testing, the substance was confirmed as ganja, with a total weight of 1.560 kg. The second accused was also arrested under the same section of the NDPS Act.
Both arrests have exposed significant loopholes in the movement of narcotics into the islands. In the first case, drugs travelled through the checked-in baggage of a commercial flight. In the second, the narcotics were concealed in a package disguised as fishing nets and delivered locally. The ease with which both consignments passed through logistics channels without interception highlights the challenges faced by enforcement agencies working with limited surveillance infrastructure.
What’s more troubling is the growing pattern of concealment. Traffickers are increasingly using common items, such as clothes, fishing equipment, or couriered goods, to avoid detection. The use of legitimate air tags and delivery challans makes it harder for authorities to filter out suspicious baggage or parcels without prior alerts or human intelligence.
This is not an isolated issue. In recent years, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have recorded a spike in narcotics-related cases. A 2024 internal review indicated a nearly 60% rise in drug seizures compared to the previous year. The remoteness of the islands, coupled with the absence of high-end scanning and surveillance tools, has made it an attractive transit point for traffickers.
Investigations by The Wave Andaman have further revealed that traffickers are exploiting not only air routes but also maritime cargo, courier services, and even hand-to-hand local deliveries. The report highlights how the growing availability of substances like ganja has triggered a quiet but rising crisis among island youth, fueling addiction, school dropouts, and a surge in mental health cases linked to substance abuse.
The recent arrests form only one strand of a deeper network. Enforcement agencies are now calling for stronger inter-agency coordination, real-time baggage scanning, and integrated surveillance at ports and courier depots. Several have argued for expanding the mandate of narcotics cells and equipping them with canine squads and AI-based baggage scanners.
Meanwhile, health experts and community leaders are pushing for a more preventive approach, including school-level drug awareness campaigns, youth counselling centres, and stricter monitoring of incoming goods. Without structural reforms, Andaman and Nicobar Islands risk becoming a growing node in the national drug supply chain, where smugglers profit and the local population pays the price.
