Is Tamil Nadu Losing the War on Drugs? The Surge of Meth and Hydroponic Weed Raises Alarms

A decade ago, Tamil Nadu’s drug enforcement had one primary target: Ganja. Fields were identified and razed. In Chennai, most bulk consignments trafficked from other states or smuggled in by train were incinerated.Today, that market has splintered and diversified. Methamphetamine is at the forefront. Once a rarity in Tamil Nadu, the stimulant now dominates several high-profile seizures. In one case, 25kg was recovered from a suburban home in Red Hills, packed for redistribution. Earlier this year, officers seized 17.8kg in another bust.

“Seizure of such quantities is evidence of a well-structured distribution chain,” says P Aravindhan, zonal director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

“Meth is either brought in from larger labs in north India or processed locally in makeshift kitchens on Chennai’s outskirts.”Also making its way into the city is a new strain of cannabis — hydroponic weed. Unlike traditional ganja grown outdoors, this version is cultivated indoors under artificial light, climate control and using soil-free methods. Flown in through international courier networks, it is mostly sourced from Thailand, Canada and the United States.

Chennai airport customs officers recently intercepted 23.5kg of hydroponic cannabis concealed in carton boxes, making it one of the city’s largest seizures of imported weed.Another category showing an exponential rise is pharmaceutical tablets. In 2023, Tamil Nadu’s enforcement agencies seized nearly 40,000 tablets. In 2024, the number crossed 1.4 lakh. These include opioids such as tramadol, anti-anxiety medication such as alprazolam and sleeping pills such as nitrazepam.Many of these are legally manufactured drugs diverted from medical supply chains or purchased in bulk from grey-market online vendors. The pills are consumed across a wide range of user profiles, from college students to working professionals. Most users order in small batches to avoid detection by avoiding bulk stockpiling.MDMA and LSD, though limited to niche urban circuits, continue to flow into the city in small but consistent quantities.

Typically ordered on the dark web, they arrive as powder or blotter tabs. Party circles in Chennai and Coimbatore remain the key consumption zones.“Ganja is now just one part of the problem,” says Baskaran M, assistant commissioner of the city Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit. “We’re not just dealing with one substance anymore, or even a few key players. The real work now is in mapping behaviour, finance, and digital footprints, which is essentially compiling detailed profiles of those arrested for peddling, especially repeat offenders, and tracking spending patterns across apps and digital platforms.

The task is less about arresting a peddler with a backpack and more about understanding the logistics chain: from how the drug is sourced, to how it’s delivered, to who sustains the demand.