New Delhi: Encrypted messaging services such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal have become significant conduits for global drug trafficking, with Telegram emerging as a particularly prominent space for advertising illicit drugs, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said in its Annual Report 2025 released on Friday.
The NCB’s report, released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, describes how public Telegram channels are being used to post product catalogues, prices and delivery information to large numbers of subscribers. The bureau noted that these apps differ from darknet markets because they are easily reachable on smartphones, removing technical barriers and widening the pool of potential buyers and sellers.
“Unlike darknet markets, which require specialised access, these platforms are widely accessible via smartphones, lowering entry barriers and enabling broader reach… Enforcement on these platforms is challenging because of jurisdictional issues in securing platform cooperation, the ephemeral nature of content, including auto-deletion of messages, and the use of multiple accounts, layered communication methods, and cryptocurrency payments by vendors to maintain anonymity,” the NCB report said.
Earlier this month, the central government briefly restricted Telegram in India before the June 21 NEET-UG retest, arguing that the app was being exploited by “cheating rackets”. Access limits were lifted on June 22, while the app’s message-editing capability remained disabled until June 30.
Myanmar Corridor A Growing Threat
The NCB warned of a major trafficking route running from Myanmar into India’s Northeast, linking drug flows with arms smuggling and the funding of insurgent groups. “Myanmar has now overtaken Afghanistan as the leading source of illicit opium,” the report said, adding that the shift followed the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation and the ongoing expansion of poppy farming in Myanmar amid conflict and economic collapse.
“The porous border (between India and Myanmar) and Free Movement Regime facilitate trafficking, exacerbate local addiction, and fund insurgent groups,” the report added.
New Substances & Violence
The agency cautioned that India is confronting a rapidly changing global drugs environment, marked by the emergence of extremely potent synthetic opioids and a surge in cocaine production. It highlighted two pressing dangers: the spread of nitazenes — a class of synthetic opioids reported to be up to 500 times more potent than heroin — and a rising connection between drug trafficking and organised violence in key transit regions.
Record Cases & Seizures
“Drug law enforcement agencies across the country registered an all-time high of over 1.48 lakh cases and effected seizures of more than 1,200 tonnes of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The scale and diversity of seizures, ranging from plant-based drugs to synthetic substances, pharmaceutical diversions and precursor chemicals, underscore the evolving and complex nature of the threat,” NCB Director Anurag Garg said in the report.
