Drug world out to grab LTTE cartel
Eventhough the LTTE’s drug smuggling activities are currently at a
standstill due to the total annihilation of the terrorist outfit in Sri
Lankan soil, other drug lords will soon vie for the drug market the LTTE
created, says a former Director General of India’s Narcotics Control
Bureau (NCB).
Swaraj Puri, former Director General NCB said: Following Liberation
Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief V Prabhakaran’s death, a massive
tug-of-war is on in the drug world to grab his multi-million dollar drug
cartel.
The LTTE had a well-oiled drug syndicate in Southeast Asia, but there
is nobody to run it after Prabhakaran’s death.
“Therefore, several other gangs are looking to take over the
syndicate, which has corporate-like operations,” said Puri. Narcotics
experts believe a new drug lord is likely to fill the vacuum created by
Prabhakaran’s death. They are not ruling out the possibility of a terror
outfit like the Lashkar-e-Taiba taking over.
LTTE arranged funds for its terror activities by smuggling drugs from
Sri Lanka to European and American countries. They also supplied drugs
to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. According to experts, the LTTE’s
drug smuggling business was worth about $200-300 million. The outfit
procured most of its consignments, largely heroin, from the Golden
Crescent via Indian routes. They joined hands with Indian druglords to
facilitate their business.
Mumbai has been a very important transit point for drug smugglers and
those who earlier supplied drugs to LTTE will now try to strike deals
directly with the drug mafia abroad. “The LTTE had joined hands with
other terrorist outfits involved in drug smuggling in neighbouring
countries. The Tigers got their supply from outfits that operate from
PoK. So the outfits that earlier supplied drugs to LTTE will try to
spread tentacles in the market that earlier belonged to LTTE,” a senior
NCB official said. In the past, Customs, NCB and Police officials in
Chennai had seized heroin being smuggled to Sri Lanka from India.
A senior police official said. “The LTTE has always been in the
drugs-for-arms business and they also supplied arms to the underworld
for drugs that were then sold to the drug mafia in Europe and America”.
Former BSF D-G Prakash Singh said, “India is located between the
Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle, which are the largest producers of
opium globally.
There are many organised drug mafias, operating from India, who have
knowledge of the vast market the LTTE catered to. They would try to take
it over. Separatists , too, would try and control it to fund their
activities.”
At a recent seminar on global terrorism, Sundeep Waslekar, president
of the Strategic Foresight Group, said the LTTE had one of the most
sophisticated drug cartels. “Their ships were the best in the business
and it was a well-oiled syndicate. After Prabhakaran’s death, this
network is likely to be taken over by other cartels,” Waslekar said.
Courtesy: DWA
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