Was investigating gang for last couple of months: NCB
New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials confirmed on Tuesday that they apprehended six individuals, including a girl, the mastermind from Jaipur of Rajasthan and a student from a private university in Noida.
The NCB had been investigating this gang for the past couple of months. They were also monitoring social media platforms to gather information about the accused. Officials confirmed that the arrested student was a resident of Goa, and was active in the NCR, involved in peddling LSD. Subsequently, the NCB apprehended another individual in Delhi who was about to send an LSD consignment to Kashmir.
The officials found the pan-India darknet drug trafficking network connected to an international chain that primarily operates on the darknet with the recovery of 15,000 blots of LSD worth several crore rupees.
Praising NCB on this major crackdown, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that realising PM Modi’s vision to make India drug-free, the NCB team has busted an international narcotics syndicate and seized 15,000 blots of LSD drug.
“I congratulate the NCB team on this achievement. Great coordination between cyber vigilance and human intelligence has made it possible as the dark net & crypto currencies were used to trade these drugs.
Due to intensified vigilance and improved coordination, drug seizures have exponentially increased in India in the last few years.”
Gyaneshwar Singh, Deputy Director General, NCB said that all the accused were active on the darknet, where they were involved in selling drugs. He mentioned that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to dismantle the entire chain. He also informed that LSD was being sourced from Poland and the Netherlands.
“The individuals behind the operation would procure LSD in Europe, and then send it to India through shipments. The network also has links with the USA. Once the consignment arrived in India, the accused would distribute it in the National Capital Region (NCR) and throughout the country,” the official confirmed.
The commercial quantity of LSD is of six blots, and the current seizure is 2,500 times higher than this threshold, Singh said. In addition, 2.232 kg of marijuana and Rs 4.55 lakh in cash was also recovered. Along with this, Rs 20 lakh held in various bank accounts were frozen.
On the other hand, during the search of the mastermind based in Jaipur, 9,006 blots of LSD, 2.233 kgs of imported marijuana, and Rs 4,65,500 in cash was recovered. The accused further informed officials that he was overseeing the entire operation of LSD blots on the darknet, specifically Darkweb or WICKR.
The DDG, NCB also confirmed: “The NCB found that the accused girl who was active on the darknet and the boy apprehended in Delhi informed NCB officials that he was working for her, and the girl was using a virtual ID. Her interrogation led to the arrest of a mastermind in Jaipur, who was the brain behind the entire racket. Later, we arrested one more person from Kerala, and an LSD consignment en route Goa was intercepted midway.”
“The buyers and sellers were both active on the darknet and never disclosed their identities to each other. Buyers would make payments through cryptocurrency, and the consignments would be delivered via courier services and foreign post,” he added.
The buyers and sellers were wily enough to make deliveries to fake addresses and use mobile numbers that could not be traced. LSD blots are small and easy to transport, making it challenging to identify and intercept trafficking. Resembling postage stamps, the blots can be concealed anywhere by buyers and sellers without arousing suspicion.
