The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested five people while dismantling an international drug trafficking network operating across Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.[1][2] Its Chennai and Hyderabad zonal units ran the coordinated operation after intelligence pointed to contraband moving from Nepal through India to Sri Lanka by sea.[1] Hyderabad officers intercepted a Tata Safari Storme at Raikal Toll Plaza on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway in Telangana on 3 March 2026.[3][2] A search found 2 kg of charas hidden in specially built cavities, and the two occupants, residents of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, were taken into custody.[3][2] Acting on their questioning, Chennai officers held three more people in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, including a Sri Lankan refugee, and seized about 78 kg of hashish oil.[1][2]

The operation seized 77.60 kg of hashish oil and 2 kg of charas, with an estimated street value of about Rs 10 crore.[3] About 78 kg of hashish oil had already been delivered at Thoothukudi for onward trafficking to Sri Lanka by sea route.[4] Officers also seized two cars, a motorbike and a fishing boat used to move the drugs.[1] In a coordinated effort with the Indian Coast Guard, authorities intercepted the suspect fishing boat near the International Maritime Boundary Line, thwarting the cross-border attempt.[3][2]

Investigators said the contraband had been smuggled into India from Kathmandu, Nepal, through the Sonauli border.[3][2] The agency identified a Sri Lankan national based in Sri Lanka who allegedly financed and coordinated the shipment from Nepal to Sri Lanka.[1] Investigators said work was under way to identify other syndicate members, trace financial transactions and dismantle the wider network.[1]