New Delhi, Sep 1: A new modus operandi has come to light whereby the drug syndicate controlled by the ISI-backed Dawood Ibrahim has made a shift from main cities to rural areas. This new plan has been in the works for some time and has now started to take effect.

No longer are cities in Maharashtra and Gujarat the preferred destinations for this syndicate. There is too much surveillance in these areas, and with the heat being so high, the Dawood network felt that it would be better to operate from the rural areas and then supply it to the cities.

The D-Syndicate not only manufactures drugs in the rural areas, but also uses them as the starting point of their supply chain. During a recent raid at Jagdishpura near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, the agencies found a multi-crore synthetic drug factory being run on the orders of Dawood Ibrahim. The raids led to the seizure of 61.20 kilograms of liquid mephedrone (MD) worth Rs 92 crore. Further, the agencies found 541 kilograms of raw chemicals.

What is staggering is that the chemicals found were enough to make drugs to supply the entire country. While the D-gang had attempted something similar in Maharashtra in the year 2009, this time, the plan is to do it on a larger scale. The idea is to manufacture the drugs in the rural parts of the country and then supply them to the rest of the country.

The plan was set into motion during Dawood Ibrahim’s 69th birthday, which was held in Karachi in December 2024. Dawood, who has been awarded an honorary rank of additional general of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI, floated the idea along with his cronies. Bringing in the drugs to India was becoming difficult due to heavy scrutiny. Moreover, with the border tensions high, the scrutiny is even higher.

Intelligence agencies say that during the birthday celebrations, the main point of discussion was how the business was falling in Mumbai and other major cities. Further manufacturing in Pakistan and then smuggling it into India was becoming extremely difficult. Both the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are on very high alert. The statistics relating to the seizure of drugs in the last year paint the picture of how alert the agencies are.

The D-Syndicate felt that it would be a safer option to manufacture in India and then supply it into the market. The drugs manufactured in India are also meant to be smuggled out of the country. It was felt that the scrutiny and surveillance in the rural areas would be much less, and hence, that was a better market to operate from.

In recent years, Dawood has activated many modules across the country. A module in Yavatmal in Maharashtra was set up with the sole focus of carrying out targeted killings. However, looking at Dawood’s track record, it is clear that he opens modules with a dual intention, and one of them is to further his drug business. The ISI too backs his plans heavily, as the money that Dawood raises is one of the biggest sources of terror funding. The ISI and Dawood have had an understanding for many years now, and that is, he has paid the agency 30 per cent of the earnings from the drug trade in exchange for protection.

In addition to setting up rural networks, there is a big focus on the southern states as well. The south network is largely overseen by another ISI asset and Dawood’s aide Haji Salim. There is a big market in South India where drugs are smuggled into Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka, the drugs are moved to countries such as Thailand.

In recent times, the southern network has been more profitable for the Dawood-syndicate as business has been falling in its usual strongholds of Maharashtra. The syndicate, however, cannot rely solely on the southern market and hence, to boost business in the northern sector, the plan to boost activities in the rural segments was set up.

(IANS)

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