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 meth worth $4.25 billion 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 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) of meth last week in a Myanmar boat carying 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 says it provides coverage in international waters, has plans to launch in India, but says its coverage in territorial waters is contingent on government approval.

“This (case) is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels,” Dhal­iwal added.

“They directly operated (phones) with satellite, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot,” the official said adding 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 meth had a retail market value of 360 billion rupees ($4.25 billion).

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024