How does the drug operation work for the Indian mafia? Part I
By Venkatesh Raghavan*
Mumbai: The media glare has shifted to the likes of Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan as the Narcotics Control Bureau digs deep into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and interrogates Rhea Chakraborty.
Drugs and Bollywood does have a long connection. The Mumbai gangland has a good history of drug trafficking and sourcing to other destinations in India. The story of the narcotic drug mafia which now operates akin to a corporate structure has thrown up a hornet’s nest with many Bollywood names popping up in the supply chain of drugs.
Also read: Reports of Dawood still alive in Pakistan a cover up? Is Anees Ibrahim involved in Sushant’s death?
The questions arise, where does the supply chain originate and how does it reach India’s financial capital and where does it head to from here? How wide-spread and how rife is drug abuse in the film circles and is this drug money being used to fund film production? The answer is in part truth and also a mixture of how a banana republic gets run in the absence of honest wealth creation and money-laundering being the sole source of financial supply.
To approach the questions that have been taken there is need to study the way money-trails world over interact and get instrumental in drug money pouring into our country via the Bollywood route. First it should be understood that the money trail in India rotates around four corners, namely the mafia, Bollywood, cricket and politicians. Money routed through these channels trickles in to support all strata of society including the much-discussed middle class.
It’s a popular byword, “follow the money”. Why does Bollywood get funds and how does it help the money trail in our country to cater to the requirements of foreign institutions that support the country’s financial health. It is a known fact that the oil rich Arab nations being Islamic do not permit interest in their banking system. The rich Arab sheikhs found a convenient different route to earn from their capital. The Indian mafia gets funding from the oil rich states and the money fetches returns when it gets invested in the drug trade with film-making being the official front for laundering money.
For careful observers it will be clear that a very low percentage of movies released do well at the box office and this industry will not be kept funding without any rationale. The front is being maintained for decades together for allowing the drug route to launder and siphon money in a very convenient manner.
How does this money flow and how does it give return on investment to the Arab investors? The money that gets routed through the mafia for their front operation. It gets used for procurement of narcotic drugs that are locally grown across the subcontinent. For example, many decades ago this was cited in the press that in places like Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and other North Indian states locally grown opium, marijuana and other drugs are transported through the postal route. The modus operandi being registered parcels are torn open and drugs are inserted. The parcel gets sealed again and is sent to a pre-disclosed destination.
In recent times, the same modus operandi is used with containers that are used to transport goods from ports to inland destinations in India. Mid-way through, these containers are intercepted, their goods are emptied and loads of narcotic drugs get packed before the container gets sealed again and moves towards its destination. The money that gets invested in purchasing the home-grown drugs fetches a huge sum when it gets transported to overseas markets by the air route. To illustrate how huge the margin is, it would suffice to say, a pack of heroin that would cost 500 rupees here would fetch 5 lakh rupees in the markets of the west.
– To be concluded
*The writer is a Mumbai-based journalist. He is the author of bestseller thriller, Operation Drug Mafia (Times Group Books).
