Police Notify Elon Musk's Starlink in $4.25 Billion Drug Smuggling Case

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Dec 11, 2024 — 2 min read

Starlink Under Scrutiny: Police Notify Elon Musk’s Firm in $4.25B Drug Case

Indian police are now keeping an eye on Elon Musk's Starlink after drug smugglers allegedly used one of its internet service devices to transport $4.25 billion worth of cocaine from Myanmar into Indian waters. According to reports cited by a media house, police officers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have served Starlink with a legal notice requesting the identity of the buyer of the gadget that enabled the peddlers to smuggle illegal goods into the nation by water. The payment method used to buy the Starlink Mini device connected to the drug smuggling case, registration information, and usage history are among the other elements the police are looking for.

Police Found Satellite Internet Device

Six Myanmar nationals were arrested by the local police in November for carrying more than 6,000 kg of meth on a boat. On the same boat, the police officers discovered the satellite internet gadget. The case's senior police officer went on to say that the incident sparked "alarm bells" because it was the first time that drugs were smuggled into Indian waters using a Starlink device to cross the deep sea. This development coincides with Starlink's application for a government licence to provide its satcom services in the nation. It is already involved in a dispute with two of the biggest telecom companies, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, regarding the distribution of satcom spectrum.

Tug of War Between Companies Over Allocation of Spectrum

Airtel and Jio have requested an auction of the satcom spectrum, while Starlink and Amazon Kuiper have demanded that the spectrum be distributed administratively. It is important to remember that Starlink has not yet received the Centre's security authorisation to begin offering satellite broadband services in India. The government wants the business to guarantee that data processing and storage would take place locally.

This comes after Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of communications, stated last month that satellite service spectrum will be distributed administratively but at a "cost" that would be determined by TRAI following thorough discussions with relevant parties. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the Minister of State (MoS) for communications, stated earlier this month that satcom should be viewed as an adjunct to terrestrial networks like 5G and 6G in order to close the digital gap and improve last-mile connectivity in India.

Earlier this month, the director of Starlink Satellite Communications, Parnil Urdhwareshe, stated during the open house that Indian consumers desire satellite broadband services and that these "intelligent consumers" are entitled to select an operator that will offer them a high-quality, reasonably priced service. He noted that Starlink's website easily provides costs for any country and that the company takes pride in making satellite broadband accessible to those who have not yet had it.