Courtesy The Daily News

While the ongoing crusade against drugs in Sri Lanka showing amazing results all round, Indian intelligence agencies made an alarming revelation of a new alliance forming between the Islam fundamentalists in the subcontinent and remnants of the dreaded terrorist outfit, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Indian sleuths say the new nexus of drug-lords and terrorists now known as D-syndicate is using South Indian and Sri Lankan routes to expand its drug trade after suffering major losses in western and northern India.

The LTTE, once considered one of the most ruthless and sophisticated non-state armed groups in the world, financed its separatist campaign primarily through an extensive international network of illegal activities. Among them, narcotics trafficking emerged as a key revenue source—linking the LTTE to the global drug trade and creating a nexus between terrorism and organised crime. Although the LTTE was defeated militarily in 2009, networks associated with the organisation and diaspora-linked operatives remain active, keeping the drug-terror pipeline a continuing concern for South and Southeast Asia.

The Indian intelligence reports say that the D-syndicate, long known for its narcotics and smuggling networks, has been hit hard in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and other northern states due to increased law enforcement action. Seeking new ground, the group is now tapping into the LTTE’s old network across Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka to transport drugs.

It is not clear yet whether last Monday bomb blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 20 has any connection with the drug syndicate, the Delhi Police invoked the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Act and the National Investigative Agency has been assigned the investigation of the case. Investigators suspect that a man identified as Umar, absconding in a related explosives case in Faridabad,

Smuggling Infrastructure

Looking at the emergence of terrorist-drug dealers link, Sri Lankan terrorist investigation department has confirmed that even after the LTTE’s defeat, remnants of its international financial and smuggling infrastructure did not fully disappear. Two types of groups remain a concern. Former LTTE financiers and diaspora fronts involved in narcotics and smuggling as profit motives independent of ideology and pro-LTTE cells abroad attempting to revive extremist networks using drug trafficking money.

Sri Lankan and Indian security agencies continue to report arrests of individuals with LTTE links engaged in narcotics transport, especially along the North-East coastal belt.

With the exodus of large number of refugees in the aftermath of 1983 communal riots in Sri Lanka, the LTTE operated largely through diaspora fundraising and donations from supporters. However, as the war intensified and expenses rose for procurement of weapons, maintaining fighters, overseas propaganda, political lobbying. Hence LTTE bigwigs Prabhakaran, intelligence Chief Pottu Amman and financial head Kumaran Pathmanabhan explored the possibility of turning the movement to illicit funding streams. Thus, the LTTE cadres graduated from Padmanabhan bank robberies to drug trafficking, which was particularly appealing because it generated large, fast profit margins.

Over the years the LTTE established cross-border maritime logistics. They also used diaspora networks to launder and reinvest profits.

Indian and Sri Lankan law-enforcement agencies began detecting links between LTTE operatives and South Indian drug cartels by the early 1990s.The LTTE have participated not only as a transporter but also as a regional facilitator.Most maritime trafficking was done by LTTE naval units (Sea Tigers), which ran fast boats capable of evading coastal patrols. They used covert shipping routes from Tamil Nadu, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia facilitated heroin and precursor chemical movements. Vessels used for arms smuggling often doubled for narcotics transportation.

Overseas Propaganda

LTTE-linked operatives in India, Europe, and Canada were accused of dealing heroin to fund overseas propaganda and procurement. The Tigers also established front businesses such as shipping firms, travel agencies, import-export companies for laundering drug-earned money. Although they did not indulge in ground-level drug sales they provided protection and transit for other drug syndicates by providing rented safe passage in waters it controlled, charging fees to trafficking groups.

The LTTE’s drug network grew beyond South Asia. In Canada and the UK, the authorities detected known diaspora hubs where law enforcement connected LTTE-linked groups to narcotics distribution and money laundering. Indian intelligence also found out that heroin originating from the Golden Crescent was trafficked through maritime routes involving LTTE logistics networks. They also cooperated with crime groups in Thailand and Myanmar, including suppliers from the Golden Triangle.

Although concrete evidence varies due to the secretive nature of these crimes, international agencies, including Interpol and Indian intelligence units, have repeatedly noted LTTE footprints in drug-related investigations.

The drug-terror nexus between LTTE and drug syndicates was not ideological but strategic. Both require finance procurement of arms, explosives, communications technology, to pay cadres, maintain infrastructure and overseas offices, bribe local and international facilitators and sustain propaganda machines and foreign lobbying groups. As the LTTE became globally designated as a terrorist organisation in many countries, legal fundraising options shrank, pulling it deeper into black-market economies.

The scenario changed after the defeat of LTTE in 2009. Post-conflict, while the early period of post-conflict, the militant structure was dismantled. After a decade of lull period the fragments of the narcotics-financing networks rebuild raising concerns for regional security, organised crime, and drug trafficking.

In recent weeks, Indian intelligence operatives intercepted communications that members of the D Syndicate were in touch with former LTTE operatives and sympathizers. These contacts are helping the syndicate gain access to key maritime and land routes once controlled by the LTTE during its peak.

According to intelligence reports the LTTE cells grabbed this opportunity because this partnership offered a financial lifeline to them at a time when the group’s remaining cadres are struggling without leadership or funds. India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe earlier indicated that former LTTE members were attempting to withdraw money from foreign banks, possibly to fund new operations.

NIA report stated that by joining forces with the D-syndicate, the LTTE gains access to significant cash flow. These funds could be used to recruit new members and purchase arms. However, the NIA rules out the possibility of a full-scale revival of the LTTE’s separatist movement in the near future.

It is a win-win situation for both sides as the D-syndicate brings money and international reach, while the LTTE contributes deep local knowledge. Former LTTE operatives are familiar with the coastal routes along the Palk Strait, which separates India and Sri Lanka. This expertise makes it easier for smugglers to move drugs between the two countries and into southern India.

During the recent escape by suspects like Iresha Sewwandi who were involved in drug-related murder plots was helped by coastal Tamil operatives. Indian authorities fear this partnership could help the D-gang dominate the southern drug market and establish new supply chains reaching the rest of India. The combination of D Syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim’s capital and the LTTE’s logistics is a major security concern, NIA report stated.

LTTE Leaders

Indian media also recalled that three years ago, Indian agencies foiled an attempt by LTTE-linked operatives to smuggle arms and drugs from Sri Lanka to India. Two men from Tamil Nadu—identified as Suresh Raj and Soundarajan—were arrested. They confessed that they were acting under the orders of LTTE leaders based in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.

Reports also indicated that over the decades, the LTTE also laundered drug profits into legitimate businesses abroad, especially in countries like Canada, UK and Norway, where Tamil diaspora networks remain active.

The NIA reports revealed that Indian intelligence units are closely tracking communications and financial flows between suspected operatives. Indian security forces have tightened maritime patrols around Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Lakshadweep islands. Authorities are also monitoring Tamil diaspora networks that might channel money into the alliance. It is essential for Sri Lankan intelligence services to enhance cooperation with their Indian counterparts considering the threat not only to Sri Lanka but also its affects to the delicate issue of regional security.