New Delhi, Oct 30 : In recent months, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been cracking down heavily on the Dawood Ibrahim-linked drug network in India.

The arrests of Danish Chikna and Mohammed Salim Sheikh have dealt major blows to the Dawood network, and this has prompted the syndicate to look for newer avenues.

As Intelligence agencies continue to focus heavily on the networks in Maharashtra and neighbouring states, the D-Syndicate is looking to expand its networks in the northeastern and southern states of India.

Action would be taken similarly in these parts of the country. However, it is necessary to bust the networks in states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have been the traditional playground of the syndicate for a long.

While Dawood Ibrahim has diversified his business in various parts of the country, the command centre remains in Maharashtra.

The people working for the network in this sector control the businesses across the country, and hence, breaking their backs first is important. This would eventually lead to the weakening of the networks in other parts of the country.

Operations in the northeastern and southern states are currently overseen by Haji Salim, an ISI stooge and a member of the Dawood network.

Salim has been playing a big part in the D-Syndicate after Dawood's right-hand man, Chhota Shakeel, has gone mysteriously quiet.

With Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim put in charge of the International wing, which does business mostly in African nations, the onus of the Indian markets has largely fallen upon Salim.

According to Intelligence agencies, the ISI and syndicate have now instructed Salim to focus entirely on the southern and northeastern sector as they feel that there is a major potential.

The syndicate sees potential in the northeast owing to the existing routes from Myanmar. With Bangladesh opening up completely to the ISI, the syndicate sees further potential in this sector.

In the South, the syndicate's network exists. However, this network has largely focused on smuggling drugs out of the country. The narcotics would first be smuggled into the southern states, especially Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and later, to the international markets such as Thailand through the Sri Lanka route.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that the syndicate is also looking to bring in more drugs through Sri Lanka before distributing it in the Indian market.

While the international market is huge for the syndicate, it is not ready to let go of India, as demand is huge.

The syndicate not just wants to cover its losses in Maharashtra, but also the ones it is incurring in Punjab.

Several attempts to bring in drugs through the Punjab route using both couriers and drones are failing owing to heavy scrutiny and security. Hence, the Dawood network wants to take maximum advantage of the southern route so that it can smuggle drugs in huge quantities and then distribute them to the Indian market.

To bring in drugs from the international market, the syndicate would use the route from Sri Lanka. The network would look to smuggle the consignment into Tamil Nadu and Kerala before supplying it into the Indian market.

According to officials, the network feels that this would be an easier route, as most of the consignments in the Indian market will be transported via land route.

The scrutiny at the southern international borders is relatively less when compared to the borders along Punjab or Jammu and Kashmir. Further, using the land route to smuggle drugs into India would also attract less scrutiny, and the syndicate hopes there would be more hits than misses.

Another official also pointed out that the D-Syndicate is also tapping into the illegal immigrants who have settled in South India in huge numbers. They could be used as carriers to supply the drugs into the Indian markets, officials also warned.

/IANS