Dawood Tapping LTTE Routes For Drug Business Into South India

NEW DELHI – Intelligence agencies have raised serious concerns regarding the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate’s move to exploit South Indian routes to bolster its drug business. Reports indicate the D-syndicate is now leveraging the established network of former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) operatives and sympathizers in both Sri Lanka and India to advance this trade. This pivot follows significant losses the D-gang sustained in its primary operating areas across Maharashtra  and northern states, Indian intelligence sources said.

For the weakened LTTE, this alliance presents a significant opportunity. A probe by the National Investigation Agency previously suggested the LTTE was attempting a comeback, with some escaped operatives trying to access funds from foreign banks, presumably for revival efforts. A tie-up with the D-syndicate provides the LTTE with desperately needed funds to recruit cadres and acquire arms and ammunition, despite official assessments suggesting a full revival of the LTTE ideology is unlikely now.

Conversely, the D-gang gains invaluable logistical expertise. The LTTE cadres are intimately familiar with the land and sea routes in the region, an area the D-syndicate seeks to penetrate more deeply. The prospect of the D-gang gaining a foothold across the entire southern market is a greater security worry for agencies than the immediate revival of the LTTE itself.

The LTTE has a long history in drug smuggling, having controlled the southern drug market at its peak, overseeing gangs on both sides of the Palk Strait. The group was involved in a failed attempt to smuggle arms and drugs from Sri Lanka to India about three years ago, where NIA learned operatives were acting on instructions from leaders in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. Since the 1980s, the LTTE used this region, making Sri Lanka a hub for Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) and transferring drug earnings into legitimate businesses in Western nations like Canada and Norway.

The convergence of the D-gang’s money and resources with the LTTE’s experience and established routes creates a lethal combination and a major security headache. The D-gang aims to use the South as a primary zone for drug transport across the rest of India, while the LTTE secures the necessary lifeline funds. (IANS)