NCB nabs man peddling drugs through Darknet

In a major breakthrough, the Delhi Zonal Unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has apprehended a suspected drug trafficker operating through the Darknet.

The nabbed person, Dipu Singh, was operating the network as an active vendor of psychotropic drugs on Darknet markets.

Rajesh Srivastava, Deputy Director General (Operations) in the Narcotics Control Bureau said: "Darknet is that part of the internet which is inaccessible normally. It is completely anonymous."

"The case was busted in cooperation with various Indian and international law enforcement agencies. The arrested person was found to be actively listed on two Darknet markets -Empire Market and Majestic Garden," he added.

The international network was supplying psychotropic drugs in the garb of erectile dysfunctional drugs/fitness supplements/health products.

The supplies were made to USA, UK, Romania, Spain and other European countries. More than 600 orders/parcels were sent by the network orders procured from Darknet and other platforms.

Information about two live consignments was passed on to the UK which resulted in the interception of two packages shipped from India to UK, each containing 16,000 tablets of Alprazolam on December 12, 2019.

Dipu Singh used Darknet as a major means to get the orders of psychotropic drugs. The network having international linkages is spread across India, Singapore and USA Global post offices and international courier services were used as logistics for illicit trade.

The payments gateways of cryptocurrency (Bitcoins, Litecoin) were used by the operators to conceal the transactions from law enforcement agencies, the official said.