Syndicates Preferring Air Route to Smuggle Cocaine

Seizures made by the Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have indicated that narcotics-trafficking syndicates have begun preferring the air route to smuggle high-value contraband like cocaine.

- Abhishek Sharan

MUMBAI: From April 2024 to March 2025, the Mumbai unit, in 12 separate cases, seized over around 18 kg of foreign-origin cocaine estimated to be worth around Rs 180 crore.

All the cases involved smuggling bids by passengers using the air route, often employing unique concealment methods. This modus operandi marked a departure from the two preceding years when a significant part of the seizures came from cocaine smuggled by the sea route, which was concealed primarily in trade containers.

The DRI's seizure data reveals that there was a sharp drop in cocaine smuggling bids from April 2024 to March 2025 compared to the preceding two years. While 18 kilos of cocaine worth around ₹180 crore was seized during 2024-2025, the seizures during 2023-24 and 2022-23 were considerably more: approximately 63.5 kg worth around ₹638 crore in 18 cases in 2023-24, and around 82.31 kg worth approximately ₹820.1 crore in 11 cases in 2022-23.

The 2024-25 seizures were, however, larger than the corresponding figures for 2020-21 and 2021-22, the Covid-19 pandemic years when there were travel restrictions. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, the DRI had seized cocaine weighing 4.94 kg (worth ₹29.75 crore) and 6.19 kg (worth ₹46.81 crore) respectively.

The seizures from the non-air route were significant: around 23 kg of cocaine worth around ₹230 crore during 2023-24 and around 59 kg worth ₹590 crore in 2022-23. Interestingly, the use of non-air route, which refers to mainly the sea route, was missing entirely during 2024-2025, DRI data revealed.