Sun Nov 17 12:24:04 UTC 2024: ## India Launches Major Offensive Against Notorious Drug Lord “Haji Salim”
**NEW DELHI** – India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is waging a major offensive against Haji Salim, a Pakistani drug lord known as the “Lord of Drugs,” who is allegedly responsible for up to 70% of drug smuggling into India. Operation Sagar Manthan, a multi-agency operation involving the NCB, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, and Gujarat ATS, is targeting Salim’s vast network which traffics heroin, methamphetamine, and other narcotics.
Salim, operating primarily from Pakistan’s Balochistan province and reportedly linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan’s ISI, utilizes maritime routes to smuggle drugs from Iran through countries like Malaysia, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, into India’s coastal regions. His shipments utilize coded language and unregistered vessels to evade detection.
Operation Sagar Manthan has already yielded significant results, seizing approximately 3,400 kg of narcotics and making numerous arrests, including Iranian and Pakistani nationals. A recent operation, Sagar Manthan-4, led to the seizure of 700 kg of methamphetamine and the arrest of eight Iranian nationals.
Despite the successes, Salim remains elusive. Authorities possess limited personal information about him, but his influence and extensive international connections are undeniable. The NCB is committed to dismantling his operation, emphasizing the need for continued international cooperation to combat his transnational criminal activities. The fight against the “seed of blood,” as Salim is also known, is ongoing, with authorities determined to curb his devastating impact on India and beyond.
First Piper 