Indian police say drug smugglers used Starlink as navigation device

Bengaluru — Indian police will seek details from Elon Musk's Starlink, they said on Tuesday, in a bid to hunt down drug smugglers who used its satellite internet device to navigate deep seas and bring methamphetamine worth $4.25bn into Indian waters for the first time.

In their biggest such seizure, police in the remote outpost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands uncovered more than 6,000kg of methamphetamine last week in a Myanmar boat carrying sacks of suspected contraband, and detained six Myanmar nationals.

But the incident has set off alarm bells as it is the first time Starlink’s device has been used to navigate and reach Indian waters, Hargobinder S Dhaliwal, a top police officer in the Andaman Islands who is handling the case, said.

Starlink, which said it provides coverage in international waters, had plans to launch in India, but said its coverage in territorial waters was contingent on government approval.

“This (case) is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels,” Dhaliwal said. “They directly operated (phones) with satellite, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot.”

He said he planned to seek from Starlink details such as who bought the device and when, as well as its usage history.

“They (smugglers) were using Starlink since their journey started from Myanmar,” he said.

Starlink did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andaman and Nicobar police estimated the seized methamphetamine had a retail market value of 360-billion rupees ($4.25bn).

Their inquiry comes as Starlink inches closer to a launch in India after lobbying for months to secure satellite spectrum, after a face-off with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani who repeatedly opposed the move and urged spectrum auctions.

Dhaliwal said the smugglers used the Starlink Mini device, described on its website as “a compact, portable kit that can easily fit in a backpack”.

Police have said they are checking the involvement of any local or foreign syndicates in the network as they tackle the latest seizure case from various angles.

In 2023, seizures of methamphetamine reached a record high of 190 tonnes in east and Southeast Asia, as drug trafficking on maritime routes has increased in recent years, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said.

India is a growing transit and destination market for methamphetamine from Myanmar, the office said in its report this year.

Reuters