Featured Image Credit: SONNY TUMBELAKA/Contributor / Douglas Sacha / Getty
Elon Musk might just have found himself in hot water with the Indian government, as they've demanded his cooperation after drug smugglers were caught using Starlink services.
Tesla owner Elon Musk has always been a strong believer in the power of the internet, and you only have to look as far as one bold prediction he made in 1998 that is increasingly becoming true.
He's more than bit his money where his mouth is though, as his SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites into space in 2019, and has since provided internet and telecommunications to over 100 different countries.
Advert
The company's services have played a key part in the Russo-Ukrainian war and it boasts over 4,000,000 active customers overall, but one that Musk might have wished not to have is a drug smuggling operation off the coast of India.
Smugglers used the fact that Starlink provides service in areas where traditional networks can't to complete their illegal operations, which involved the transportation of six tons of methanphetamine - worth around $4,200,000,000.
They were seized in the area surrounding the Andaman and Nicobar islands, after a patrolling plane spotted unusual activity, and six individuals have been arrested by the local police force.
That's far from the end of the story though, as the Andaman and Nicobar police have issued a demand that Elon Musk and Starlink provide information regarding the smugglers' use of the satellite services.
This includes the name and payment method of the purchaser, alongside the registered account information and where the Starlink Mini device that was found upon the boat was used.
This is far from the first geopolitical issue that Starlink has encountered, having previously requested suppliers in areas like Taiwan to move their production due to conflicts with the Chinese government, alongside a ban from Brazilian courts after similarly Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) was alleged to have been spreading hate and misinformation on the platform.
As reported by Techspot, Starlink might be more willing than most situations to cooperate with the Indian government on this matter as the company is still in the process of security licenses to operate in the country.
It was only in November that Jyotiraditya Scindia, India's Minister of Communications, stated, as shown in The Hindu:
"[Starlink] have to comply with all the conditionalities. You have to look at it from a security perspective, making sure all the security concerns are addressed."
There are perhaps few greater security concerns than drug smugglers using your services to conduct illegal activity, so this is definitely a controversy that Musk will want to avoid.
