New Delhi, Oct 9: Pakistan-based narcotic cartels are now encouraging their cronies in India to ramp up homegrown production. With agencies such as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) carrying out several drug busts, the cartels from Pakistan have decided to focus more on home-made substances to fuel their trade.

Before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, poppy fields were in abundance. Opium and heroin were coming out of Afghanistan in large quantities, and Pakistan-based cartels would rely heavily on this product.

The Taliban have taken strict measures and ensured that Afghanistan shall no longer have drug-producing fields. Instead, in the fields of Afghanistan, one gets to see potatoes, grain, and other vegetables being grown.

This decision has resulted in a drop of 95 per cent in the production of drugs. Before the Taliban took over, drugs were being produced or grown on 232,000 hectares.

Following the ban in 2022, Pakistan- and Myanmar-based drug cartels began moving towards synthetic drugs. Drugs such as methamphetamine or meth are in very high demand both in the Indian and international markets.

Unlike opium and heroin, meth can be produced all through the year. This means that the production levels would be ten times higher when compared to heroin or opium. Further, this also ensures that synthetic drugs are cheaper when compared to the field-produced narcotics.

This also drives consumption, as the affordability of such narcotics makes them accessible to a wider section of society.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that drug cartels which had set up massive synthetic drug manufacturing units in Myanmar and Pakistan are now insisting that their recruits in India do the same at home.

“This has been done due to the massive drug busts that have taken place in India in recent months. The new tactic by the narcotic cartels is similar to the one that Pakistan tries to adopt when it comes to terror-related activities,” said the IB official.

There is a major push being made for homegrown terror modules so that Pakistan can have the deniability factor each time a bust takes place, the official added.

Another official said that the creation of multiple homegrown synthetic drug producing units also eliminates the risk of the contraband being intercepted either on Indian or international waters.

The Indian agencies have literally choked every route that is being used by cartels run by the likes of Dawood Ibrahim and Haji Salim.

The Iran war has added to their miseries as the usual routes that would be used to smuggle drugs into India have largely been disrupted.

In 2024, the NCB and Delhi Police busted a clandestine meth lab in Greater Noida, adjacent to the National Capital. During the operation, the NCB seized 95 kg of meth.

Officials say that the cartels would push and also facilitate the setting up of such homegrown drug-producing units in many more parts of the country.

“There is a lot of focus being given to both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The recent drug busts have affected the southern markets and also the supplies into Sri Lanka and eventually Thailand,” officials say.

The intelligence agencies have learnt that Haji Salim, who controls this route, has been dialling his contacts in Sri Lanka, Kerala and the Maldives. He is also in touch with some of his associates who are behind bars now, the agencies have learnt.

Haji Salim has been instructing them to make all possible arrangements to set up clandestine meth-producing labs in large numbers.

These recent drug busts, which directly affected the southern markets and the other routes leading from there, have put Haji Salim under immense pressure, especially from his international dealers. He feels that ramping up homegrown production will make up for the loss.

Moreover, transporting homegrown drugs is easier than smuggling them in from Pakistan and then through the Indian waters. This, he hopes, would solve the problem, and in case of a bust, Pakistan can always deny any involvement, an official said.

Mumbai, Oct 9: The ED arrested two accused in fresh action against a trans-national organised narcotics trafficking syndicate operated by fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Salim Ismail Dola and his associates, an official said on Friday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, arrested Pravin alias Nagesh Ramchandra Shinde and Brijesh Kanjibhai Moradiya under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The ED investigation was initiated based on multiple FIRs registered by various law enforcement agencies in Mumbai against Salim Dola and others for offences relating to illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

The investigation conducted so far has revealed the existence of a highly organised trans-national criminal network engaged in procurement of precursor chemicals, clandestine manufacture of Mephedrone (MD), interstate transportation and distribution of narcotic drugs, international trafficking of narcotic substances, collection and layering of proceeds of crime through hawala channels, and acquisition of movable and immovable assets in the names of associates and other persons, the ED said in a statement.

Investigation revealed that Pravin alias Nagesh Ramchandra Shinde was involved in the illegal clandestine manufacturing of MD and in activities connected with generation, handling, possession, utilisation and movement of proceeds derived from illicit sale of the said narcotic substance, the ED said.

Investigation has further revealed that the illicit proceeds were used to acquire immovable properties and other assets in the names of persons closely associated with him, it said.

The investigation also revealed that Brijesh Moradiya was involved in arranging the procurement and supply of the precursor chemical used for the illicit manufacture of MD.

The cash received from Salim Dola through the Angadiya channel for procuring the precursor chemical was deposited and routed through multiple third-party/family accounts and entities controlled/arranged by him and his associates, then transferred through the banking channel to various chemical companies/entities, thereby facilitating procurement of the precursor chemical.

Simultaneously, amounts involved in these transactions were received by Brijesh Moradiya and his associates/family accounts in the guise of commission from the sale of the chemical and the same were thereafter further transferred, layered and utilised.

The ED had earlier conducted search operations at 21 locations across Mumbai, Surat, Ankleshwar and Rajkot on June 2, 2026 and June 3, 2026 in this case and had covered the entire spectrum of the organised narcotics network of Salim Dola targeting end-to-end nodes of the syndicate including precursor chemical suppliers, chemical traders, manufacturers/distributors of the synthetic narcotic drug Mephedrone (MD), Hawala Operators and persons holding benami properties worth crores of rupees acquired from proceeds generated through the organised drug syndicate.

The searches resulted in the seizure and freezing of cash, foreign currency, gold bars, and bank balances valued at Rs 1.33 crore (approx.), along with $2,200. Additionally, documents relating to immovable properties worth several crores of rupees located in India and Dubai were recovered, indicating substantial investments made from the proceeds of the organised drug syndicate, the statement said.

Greater Noida, Oct 9: Nearly a week after a young man jumped to his death from the 43rd floor of Noida’s Supernova building in Sector 94, sending shockwaves in the area, a 36-year-old man died after falling from the 12th floor of a residential society in Greater Noida West on Friday, with his family telling police that he had been struggling with depression, officials said.

The deceased was identified as Anil Kumar, son of Santosh Kumar, a resident of Ace Divino Society under the Bisrakh police station limits. He originally hailed from Prithvipur village in Madhya Pradesh’s Niwari district.

According to police, they received information about the incident on Friday and sent a team to the spot. The personnel gathered details about the incident and completed the identification process.

Police subsequently took custody of the body, completed the inquest proceedings and sent it for post-mortem examination.

During preliminary enquiries, the deceased’s family told police that Kumar had been experiencing depression for some time. However, police are still examining the circumstances leading to the incident, and the family’s statement alone does not establish the cause of the fall.

Police said further legal formalities were underway. More details are expected to emerge as the investigation progresses and the post-mortem examination is completed.

Earlier, on October 3, Sambhav Jain jumped from the 43rd floor of Noida’s Supernova building in Sector 94. The 29-year-old man was a resident of Manesar in Haryana’s Gurugram.

Meanwhile, according to preliminary information received earlier, the impact of the fall was such that the victim’s body was severed into two pieces. A sound resembling a bomb blast was reportedly heard in the complex due to the impact of the fall.

According to reports, the young man who committed suicide was staying at Supernova’s AIR BNB and committed suicide as he was depressed after his divorce and his baby’s illness that had resulted in mounting medical bills.

In another case of suicide reported last month, a first-year MCA student hanged himself in his room in Sector Alpha-2, under the jurisdiction of the Beta-2 Police Station in Greater Noida.

He had reportedly moved to Noida about a month prior to the incident and was pursuing his first-year MCA course through online classes.