So, like, the Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has been making some pretty juicy seizures lately. They found out that drug syndicates are starting to prefer using the air route to smuggle fancy contraband like cocaine. From April 2024 to March 2025, the DRI in Mumbai nabbed around 18 kg of foreign-origin cocaine, which is estimated to be worth a cool ₹180 crore. Pretty crazy stuff, right?
All these cases involved people trying to smuggle drugs through the air route, getting all creative with their hiding spots and whatnot. This is a big change from the past couple of years when most of the cocaine smuggling was happening through the sea route, mostly stashed away in trade containers. But hey, times are changing, I guess.
The data from DRI shows that there was a big drop in cocaine smuggling from April 2024 to March 2025 compared to the two years before that. In 2023-24, they seized around 63.5 kg of cocaine worth ₹638 crore, and in 2022-23, it was about 82.31 kg worth a whopping ₹820.1 crore. The seizures in 2024-25 were less than those, but hey, still more than what was seized during the Covid years of 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Interestingly, they didn’t find any cocaine coming in through the non-air route (mostly sea route) during 2024-2025. It seems like these drug syndicates are really into the whole air travel scene now.
So, apparently, cocaine mostly comes into Maharashtra from abroad, while the synthetic stuff is made right here. The cocaine usually comes from South America through African or Gulf countries. When asked why they’re all about the air route now, a source from the agency said it’s a global trend to use passengers to smuggle the goods and avoid the sea route. Makes sense, I guess.
The source mentioned that using the air route is more cost-effective for the smugglers, and they can avoid scanners at airports if there’s no specific intel. Smugglers usually carry small amounts of drugs on them, so even if they get caught, it’s not a huge loss for the syndicate.
The DRI is stepping up its game to catch these smugglers, whether they come by air, land, or sea. The air route is posing some challenges, especially with the increase in cases involving mules carrying drugs. Imagine trying to hide all that coke in your luggage or even in your body! Wild stuff.
India has its work cut out with all the drug trafficking happening, especially with the young population being targeted as potential customers. The DRI is doing what they can, but it’s not an easy task.
In the past years, most of the cocaine seizures were from the sea route. These big consignments were well hidden in cargo containers, making it easier to smuggle large amounts of drugs. The DRI had some pretty impressive busts, like finding bricks of cocaine hidden in boxes of green apples and pears. Who would’ve thought, right?
It’s a tough battle out there for law enforcement, but they’re doing their best to keep these drugs off the streets. Let’s hope they can stay ahead of the game and continue cracking down on these smuggling operations.
