Indian security agencies identified Maldives and Sri Lanka as transshipment hubs for drugs originating from Pakistan headed to India, consequently financing terrorism.
With reference to Indian authorities, Indian media Hindustan Times revealed that the Sri Lankan Coast Guard, on July 10, seized a vessel travelling through the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Maldives. A shipment of 50 kilograms of heroine were uncovered on board the vessel.
Hindustan Times also reported a second case where the Indian Coast Guard seized 218 kilograms of heroin from a Karachi-registered Pakistani fishing boat, 'Al Madina', off Jakhau in Kutch district of Gujarat on May 21.
Interrogating the six crew members who were arrested in the bust revealed that Hamid Malik, a Pakistani national, handed over the narcotics to the boat captain with instructions to deliver it to a Mumbai resident by the name of Badruddin Sheikh.
The third recent bust occurred on May 26, when Maldivian Coast Guard intercepted an Iranian boat carrying a large quantity of drugs. A Pakistani national was on board this vessel as well.
According to the Indian news outlet, the connection between terrorism financing and drug trafficking was revealed by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley during interrogation in 2010.
During the investigation, Headley disclosed the role played by Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in linking drug lords and terrorists for transportation of weapons and drugs to India.
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