A total of 106 Nigerians were arrested in India last year for drug trafficking, making them one of the largest groups of foreign nationals implicated in the crime, according to a new report by the Indian Express.
The report, which cited the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) annual data, revealed that Nigerians were among 660 foreigners arrested for narcotics-related offences in 2023. Nepalese nationals topped the list with 203 arrests, while 25 Myanmarese, 18 Bangladeshis, 14 Ivorians, 13 Ghanaians, and 10 Icelanders were also detained.
India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah released the figures during the 2nd National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) in New Delhi.
The NCB report highlighted the increasing use of drones for drug trafficking across India.
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In Punjab, 163 drone-related cases were reported, leading to the recovery of 187.1 kg heroin, 5.39 kg methamphetamine, and 4.22 kg opium.
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In Rajasthan, 15 drone cases were recorded with 39.2 kg heroin seized.
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In Jammu & Kashmir, one drone case yielded 0.34 kg heroin.
Officials described the trend as a growing security threat that connects local peddling to international supply chains.
NCB Director General Anurag Garg warned that India’s location between the “Death Crescent” (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran) and the “Death Triangle” (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos) has made it a vulnerable transit and consumption hub.
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States like Punjab, Rajasthan, and J&K face heroin smuggling from Pakistan.
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The North-East — including Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh — is exposed to narcotics flowing from Myanmar.
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Coastal routes through Mumbai, Gujarat, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are increasingly used for synthetic drugs.
Minister Amit Shah emphasized that India’s strategy must go beyond arresting small-scale peddlers to dismantling entire cartels, including:
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Traffickers at entry points,
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Distributors moving drugs into states,
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Local-level retail sellers.
He urged states to embrace advanced technologies such as darknet analysis, cryptocurrency tracking, communication pattern monitoring, logistics audits, financial flow mapping, metadata analysis, and machine learning models to target narcotics networks.
Shah also called for stronger collaboration with the CBI to ensure extradition of foreign fugitives behind the drug trade, noting that international syndicates are often linked to terrorism financing.
“Unfortunately, two of the regions from where drugs are supplied globally are very close to us. So this is the time that we fight against it strongly,” Shah said.
The report underscores the scale and complexity of transnational drug trafficking, raising concerns not just about India’s internal security but also about the growing involvement of foreign nationals, including Nigerians, in the illicit trade.
