--- title: "Drug Smugglers Caught With $4.25 Billion Worth Of Meth Were Using SpaceX Starlink for Navigation" description: "Drug smugglers apparently used Starlink satellite internet to bring in billions of dollars worth of methamphetamine into India." date: "2024-12-04" modified: "2024-12-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/drug-smugglers-starlink-boat" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "meth" - "police" - "starlink" - "the digest" --- # Drug Smugglers Caught With $4.25 Billion Worth Of Meth Were Using SpaceX Starlink for Navigation ![Drug smugglers apparently used Starlink satellite internet to bring in billions of dollars worth of methamphetamine into India.]() *\Image: Pierre Crom via Getty\* ## 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. **More on Starlink:** [*Military Leaders in Huge Trouble After Bolting a Starlink Terminal to a Warship for Unrestricted WiFi*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()