Golden Triangle Amphetamines in India: The Indo-Bangladesh Border as an Alternative to the North-East Corridor

Rajdeep Sarkar

India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 2024, vol. 80, issue 3, 346-361

Abstract: Myanmar’s political turbulence has provided suitable conditions for the growth of bustling drug production complexes. From opiates to amphetamines, the connection between drugs, conflict and power is a key regional dynamic with implications for its neighbours and beyond. This article discusses some security and socio-economic implications for India due to the explosion of amphetamine trade originating in the Golden Triangle region. Though the North-east has been extensively identified as the main corridor for the passage of Myanmar-origin drugs, this article explores an alternative view by focusing on West Bengal as a particularly vulnerable area as both a destination and transit area for amphetamines. I argue that in the densely populated border areas in West Bengal, amphetamines are being integrated into existing cross-border smuggling routes used for cattle, gold, minerals and illicit pharmaceutical drugs, with regional and national implications.

Keywords: Amphetamines; drug smuggling; Golden Triangle; ‘Yaba’ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09749284241264037 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indqtr:v:80:y:2024:i:3:p:346-361

DOI: 10.1177/09749284241264037

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().