India's haul of heroin from Afghanistan shows Taliban drug nexus

India's seizure of 3,004 kg of heroin, said to be the biggest haul in recent years, and the arrest of four Afghan nationals have put the spotlight on the illicit drug trade out of Afghanistan.

Experts expect the drug trade to continue its upward trend under the Taliban, with India being the final destination and transit point to Europe and North America.

On Sept 13, anti-smuggling agency Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) discovered the heroin stashed in bags topped off with talc stones, used in the manufacturing of paper and cosmetics, in two containers that arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarat from Bandar Abbas in Iran.

The shipment originated from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and is worth around 35 billion rupees (S$642 million).

Eight people - including four Afghans - have been arrested as investigations continue in half a dozen Indian cities, including Delhi and Chennai, the DRI said.

According to officials, the size of the shipment was unusual.

"It is such a risk to transport such a large amount. Normally, it is smuggled in smaller quantities," said a customs official, who did not want to be named. He listed the change of government in Afghanistan as one potential reason for the size of the shipment, or someone desperately trying to get the drugs out of Afghanistan. "This requires a detailed investigation. This is a challenge for the world community," he added.

Afghanistan is the largest opium producer, accounting for 80 per cent of the worldwide supply, said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Opium is refined to make drugs like heroin.

The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan went up by 37 per cent from 2019 to 224,000ha last year, based on the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2020.

The cultivation grew "due to political instability, scarce employment opportunities, lack of quality education and limited access to markets", according to the UNODC.

Experts said that since none of these factors had changed under the Taliban regime, the likelihood of this trade continuing and growing remained high. "These factors are not going to go away in the foreseeable future and therefore will continue to be the reason for unabated production of opiates and their trans-border smuggling to different parts of the world," said Mr Devendra Dutt, a former Indian Narcotics Control Bureau official who has also served with the UNODC regional office for South Asia.

The Taliban rulers have said they will stop the cultivation and smuggling of opiates, but are yet to make a move on the ground.

In 2000, during its first stint in power, the Taliban banned poppy growing but changed tack amid domestic backlash from cultivators.

The country, blocked from funds and aid after the Taliban takeover, is in dire financial condition.

The UNODC said the income from domestic consumption, production and exports of opiates was estimated at between US$1.2 billion and US$2.1 billion (between S$1.6 billion and S$2.8 billion) in 2019.

Dr Pushpita Das, research fellow and centre coordinator (internal security) of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, said: "Change in the political dispensation in Afghanistan might result in a spike as far as production and distribution of narcotics are concerned. But to what extent is a matter of conjecture.

Illegal drugs make their way into India from Afghanistan either by sea or by road through Pakistan and into the Indian state of Punjab.

While drugs are distributed within the country, India is also a transit point for drugs to the West.

According to the Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2018, illicitly produced opiates, in particular heroin, from Afghanistan are sent to Europe and North America, mainly Canada.

This is done via the "alternate" southern route that bypasses the Gulf countries and uses South Asia as a stopover for opiates.

Officials said that activity on the sea route had also increased recently.

"Between 2017 and 2020, most of the Afghan opiates were transported by road. The trend is changing as sea route is being used now to smuggle out large quantities," said Mr Dutt.

India, with its large number of minor and major ports, airports and more than 3,000km-long international border with Pakistan, is "susceptible to transnational organised smuggling of drugs", he said.

"It would be reasonable to conclude that the upward trend in production and trafficking of Afghan opiates will continue".