Sri Vijaya Puram, May 5: Fishing trawlers dropping drug consignments into the open sea, parcels laced with cannabis and heroin arriving via courier, meth-laced packages washing up on remote beaches, these are not isolated incidents. They are part of a growing pattern that points to an entrenched drug trafficking network operating across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to The Wave Andaman’s investigation
The modus operandi is alarmingly diverse. According to senior law enforcement sources, international cartels rely heavily on maritime smuggling, often abandoning high-value narcotics mid-sea when Indian surveillance aircraft or patrol vessels close in. The packages, tightly sealed and buoyant, drift ashore on Nicobar or southern Andaman beaches, where they are often picked up by unsuspecting locals, or, increasingly, by individuals linked to local peddling networks. In other cases, cannabis and synthetic drugs are hidden inside commercial courier consignments or stashed in the personal luggage of air passengers arriving from the mainland.
Escalating Crisis
The current phase of the crisis began in 2019, when methamphetamine packets, discarded by a fleeing Myanmar-based vessel during a Coast Guard interception, started washing up along the coasts of Car Nicobar and Little Andaman. Residents, unaware of the substance’s potency, began handling the parcels, setting off an addiction wave that overwhelmed families and stretched public health systems. Law enforcement sources say this incident exposed how vulnerable the islands are to spillover from international narcotics operations, particularly those linked to the Myanmar-Thailand-Laos Golden Triangle.
In a more recent and much larger operation, the Indian Coast Guard made one of the country’s biggest drug seizures in November 2024, intercepting a Myanmar-flagged fishing vessel named Soe Wai Yan Htoo near Barren Island. Aboard was a staggering 6,016 kg of methamphetamine, valued at over ₹36,000 crore in the global black market. The bust followed surveillance by a Dornier aircraft and culminated in the arrest of six Myanmar nationals. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the men were linked to a cartel operating out of Tachileik, a notorious narcotics hub. Digital evidence from the vessel, including GPS data and satellite transmissions via Starlink, mapped out a trafficking route that included Neil Island, Rangat, and Sumatra, illustrating the transnational reach of the drug network.
As maritime scrutiny intensified, local traffickers shifted to more creative and brazen strategies. In April 2025, authorities seized 11 kg of ganja from a consignment hidden inside industrial air compressors at a shipping godown in South Andaman. The parcel had been processed through a private courier service. That raid followed a similar pattern of smaller but frequent busts: 3.7 kg of ganja intercepted in Rangat in April 2024, 480 grams seized from a 19-year-old migrant at Port Blair airport in March 2025, and 155 grams recovered from a postal consignment in Sri Vijaya Puram earlier this year.
Law enforcement officials say that while cannabis has long circulated in the islands, the entry of meth, heroin, and cocaine signals a more dangerous phase. In December 2024, 1.26 kg of cocaine was discovered on Mus Lighthouse Beach in Car Nicobar, following a similar 1.1 kg recovery at Tillangchong Island the year before. In early 2024, 16 kg of heroin was seized on Campbell Bay’s B-Quarry Beach, though part of that shipment had already reached Kolkata by the time of the bust.
Officials involved in the investigations believe that many of these drug consignments were jettisoned by smugglers at sea to avoid capture and later recovered by on-ground networks. According to one senior enforcement source, “The ocean is being used as a temporary storage space. Traffickers know local retrieval systems exist. That’s the level of coordination we’re seeing.”
Above : Fishing trawlers originating from Southeast Asia are a key conduit for drug trafficking in the region, often operating under the cover of legitimate maritime activity to transport narcotics into Indian waters.
There is growing concern that the crisis is not confined to transit or adult use. Educational institutions are now reporting suspected cases of substance abuse among students. Police and community sources suggest that meth and cannabis are making their way into schools and colleges, potentially exposing even tribal communities, whose children study in these shared institutions, to long-term harm.
Despite frequent arrests, many accused are released on bail due to non-commercial quantity thresholds, weakening the deterrence. Investigators have quietly acknowledged that local participation in drug distribution is increasing, though concrete evidence against higher-level island-based operators remains scarce. “We’re catching the carriers, not the coordinators,” said one official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing probes.
Families Ruined
The impact is visible in clinics, families, and communities. Addiction-related health issues are surging, especially in Car Nicobar, Little Andaman, and parts of South Andaman. With minimal rehabilitation infrastructure and limited medical expertise in addiction recovery, long-term support remains elusive. Health officials say that many young users, especially those exposed to meth, suffer from lasting neurological and psychological harm.
While occasional awareness campaigns have been held, there is no coordinated public health strategy to counter what is now widely seen as a regional drug epidemic, experts maintain. Proposals to establish a dedicated narcotics task force, improve inter-island intelligence sharing, and tighten courier inspections are the need of the hour.
The islands, once romanticized for their remoteness and serenity, are now firmly on the radar of global drug networks. The question is no longer whether Andaman and Nicobar are being used as a drug corridor; it is whether India can secure this vulnerable flank of its eastern maritime border before the damage becomes irreversible.
( This report is part of a Wave Andaman investigation, based on enforcement documents, seizure records, and interviews with law enforcement officers and local officials. Names of sources have been withheld to protect ongoing investigations.)
