NCB busts ‘dark web’ drug ring: The Narcotics Control Bureau has seized over 15,000 blots of LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide – a synthetic chemical-based hallucinogenic drug in a crackdown on a pan-India trafficking network that used cryptocurrency and was run via the ‘dark web’. Officials arrested six people in connection with this case on Tuesday.
NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh this is the agency’s ‘largest ever’ seizure of LSD ‘blots’ in a single op.
“This network used the ‘dark net’ in their dealings. This network operated virtually and the payments were made via cryptocurrency and crypto wallets. The buyer and the seller did not have any physical contact,” he explained.
What is ‘dark web’
The ‘dark web’ or ‘dark net’ refers to hidden corners of the internet used to sell illegal items. It is also used to exchange banned content and engage in other criminal activities. Officials also recovered 2.5 kg of marijuana and currency worth ₹24.65 lakh.
LSD ‘blot’ difficult to track
The ‘blot’ is half a stamp-sized piece of paper and is a method of carrying and consuming the drug that makes it difficult for authorities to track.
“… this is a revenue stamp. Half of this stamp is one ‘blot’ and each blot can be consumed by an individual, usually by swallowing it. The size of these ‘blots’ make it very difficult to hide and smuggle… you can keep it in between any piece of paper or document and parcel or courier it,” Gyaneshwar Singh said.
Possession of 0.1 gram is the threshold for possession of commercial quantity of LSD and the recovered amount is over 2,500 times that, he added.
Drugs worth ₹25,000 crore seized in May
The NCB’s in a joint operation with the Navy last month confiscated drugs worth ₹25,000 crore off the coast of Kerala. They seized the drug methamphetamine and over 2,500 kg of the substance.
NCB officials said the haul was the largest in money terms. He said the drugs were routed via Iran’s Chabahar Port and the source was Pakistan.
A Pakistani national identified as Zubair Derakshshandeh was arrested. He voluntarily confessed he was working for a Pakistan-based trafficker on a promise of large monetary reward for moving the drugs.
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