This photograph, released on Monday by India's Ministry of Defence, depicts the seized drugs from a Myanmar fishing boat in Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair). AFP
India's coast guard announced on Tuesday that they had intercepted their largest-ever haul of illegal drugs, seizing 5.5 tonnes of methamphetamine from a fishing boat smuggling the contraband from war-torn Myanmar. An Indian Coast Guard (ICG) aerial patrol detected a suspicious fishing boat operating in the Andaman Sea—located between India and Myanmar—prompting the dispatch of a coastguard vessel. Officers boarded the boat at dawn on Sunday as it entered Indian territorial waters with a crew of six Myanmar nationals, according to the coastguard's statement.
Upon inspection, the boarding party discovered approximately 5,500 kg of prohibited methamphetamine. This record-breaking seizure underscores the ICG's dedication to protecting Indian waters. The boat has since been transported to an Indian naval base. Myanmar has faced ongoing unrest since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's government in 2021, leading to a violent uprising. Shan state in Myanmar is a major producer of synthetic drugs, with much of the production occurring in illegal labs hidden in remote jungle areas near the Thai border, controlled by armed groups. Drug traffickers have increasingly resorted to maritime routes to evade stricter land patrols through China and Thailand.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a record 190 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in East and Southeast Asia in 2023. The drugs seized by India could have fetched millions of dollars on the street. However, UN experts note that mass production has driven the wholesale price of methamphetamine down to as low as $400 per kg in production regions.
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