MUMBAI: In January 2025, a routine tipoff about an attempt to smuggle high-end narcotics from Mumbai to Australia via air uncovered the rise of a new international cocaine-trafficking syndicate. A package containing 200gm of high-grade cocaine of South-American origin was found concealed inside a projector to be loaded into the cargo hold of an Australia-bound flight.How a Navi Mumbai youth became a cocaine kingpinThe seizure, by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)’s Mumbai unit, set off alarm bells. While the India-Australia route was already known as a conduit for synthetic drugs, it was the first time the NCB found it being used for a cocaine run.Investigations led to the arrest of a certain Jayakrishna Gopakumar in Navi Mumbai, from whom the NCB seized a medley of drugs. The seized contraband, valued at ₹200 crore, included 12 bricks of cocaine, hydroponic cannabis and cannabis gummies.But what truly surprised NCB officers was the identity of Gopakumar’s boss – the syndicate’s kingpin. It was 32-year-old Navin Chichkar, a one-time Navi Mumbai resident. Chichkar, who had a post-graduate degree in psychology from a UK-based college, was now an international cocaine trafficker operating out of Thailand and Malaysia, an NCB officer said.The agency knew Chichkar trafficked in synthetic drugs, cannabis and even cocaine, but had no idea how far he had expanded his operations. In fact, he was not on the NCB’s radar when Gopakumar was arrested. Now, the agency was more determined than ever to track him down.On May 28, 2025, the NCB struck pay dirt. They tracked Chichkar to Malaysia, from where the trafficker was deported to India in connection with a pending case. In August, investigators struck again, arresting his brother Dhiraj at the Mumbai airport, moments after he arrived on a flight from Malaysia, said the NCB officer.The NCB was keen to interrogate Chichkar to understand the scale of his drugs syndicate, how exactly he ran his operation, and who his associates were. The Enforcement Directorate recently began a money-laundering investigation into the NCB case.Old friendsGopakumar told the NCB that Chichkar and he were childhood friends from Navi Mumbai but hey had lost touch. Then, in 2020, when wanted to buy hydroponic cannabis for his personal consumption, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Chichkar was involved in the procurement of the substance. His old friend offered to get him some at cheap rates.Accordingly, the two met in Goa in February 2022, when Chichkar introduced Gopakumar to a contact, from whom he could purchase weed for his personal consumption and for sale among friends. It was only a matter of time before Gopakumar became a key part of Chichkar’s distribution network, the NCB officer said.Officially, Chichkar had left India in 2021 via the Nepal border, from where he travelled to the UAE, the UK and Thailand. He told investigators he sourced high-end cocaine from a US-based supplier, Kasim Hussein, whom he met in Thailand at a cannabis growers’ exhibition in 2023. Hussein then introduced Chichkar to a US-based associate of his, Mohammed Ali, who became a part of Chichkar’s international cocaine-trafficking operations, said the officer.Chichkar sourced cannabis from a US-based ‘Mr Wyatt’, who he had met in Goa in 2019. He would receive the contraband from Wyatt’s local distributors in Navi Mumbai.Air cargo routeChichkar established the air cargo route as an international drugs conduit after he crossed paths with a private customs clearing agent, Harsh Joshi, now an arrested co-accused. Joshi allegedly managed customs clearance for Chichkar’s drugs-laden cargo consignments, including cocaine and cannabis.Chichkar has told investigators that from April 2024 to January 31, 2025, Joshi had cleared 12 such consignments, including one of toys containing ganja and cocaine, flown into Mumbai from the US.It was Chichkar’s resourcefulness and ability to pivot when needed that contributed to his swift rise. For instance, in January 2025, Hussein approached the young drug trafficker with an urgent request – he needed Chichkar to arrange 40kg of hydroponic cannabis for his Mumbai customers. Despite the tight timeline, Chichkar delivered the goods. He sourced the product from his Thailand-based supplier, who dispatched the drugs to New Delhi via a carrier named ‘Danny’.When Chichkar couldn’t get local carriers to bring the contraband to Mumbai, he paid his Thai contact extra, and Danny delivered the cannabis to Gopakumar on January 23, 2025. It was some of this cannabis that was seized by the NCB when they arrested Gopakumar in Navi Mumbai.Chichkar also relied on his brother Dhiraj in his drug-trafficking operations. Dhiraj would supervise drug distribution among key operatives of the syndicate and assist in the collection and transfer of the sale proceeds.