Drug Smugglers Caught With $4.25 Billion Worth Of Meth Were Using SpaceX Starlink for Navigation

"This is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels."

Meth Hall

Police in India have a bone to pick with Elon Musk after they say drug smugglers were using SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet to sneak billions of dollars worth of methamphetamine into the country.

As Reuters reports, police in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands are requesting information from the SpaceX subsidiary after discovering smugglers used its internet services to navigate its waters.

The discovery was made after police looked through Myanmar-based boats that had docked at the islands — and found 13,000 pounds of the crystallized drug, estimated to be valued at around $4.25 billion. Along with the seized meth, they also found a Starlink Mini device to access the internet.

Six Myanmar nationals were detained after the drugs were uncovered — and according to ranking Andaman police officer Hargobinder S. Dhaliwal, pressing Starlink for information will help bring the dealers behind this international scheme to justice.

"This is different because it is bypassing all the legal channels," Dhaliwal told Reuters. "[The smugglers] directly operated with satellite, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot."

Legal Ease

Police plan to ask Starlink for information about who purchased the Starlink Mini, when they bought it, and its usage history. Per its terms of service, the company should comply with this law enforcement request — though it's unclear whether it has yet.

This is the first known time a police force has requested information from the Musk-owned company regarding drug smuggling, Reuters reports. The issue seems compounded by the fact that India doesn't yet have Starlink access as it wades through regulatory red tape.

Although Starlink claims to offer internet coverage in international waters to maritime subscribers, the company also asserts that it seeks government approval for "territorial waters," which may well have been what the smugglers traveled through during their boat voyage from Myanmar to Andaman.

From wartime and illegal mining to espionage and now drug smuggling, Starlink is now being used for all kinds of bizarre purposes — and it's likely people will keep using it for nefarious ends, whether sanctioned or not.

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