Mumbai: In a major success against drug trade, the Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday claimed to have busted a pan-India drug trafficking cartel using cryptocurrency by arresting six accused in the case. According to NCB officials, the case pertains to a pan-India network of the drug cartel where the accused were using cryptocurrency through the dark net.
The NCB officials claimed it to be the largest LSD seizure so far which has been effected in a coordinated and efficient manner. LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide is a synthetic chemical based-drug that is categorised as a hallucinogen. Dy DG (NR), NCB Gyaneshwar Singh said that they have arrested six persons in two cases and seized 15,000 bloats of LSD drug which is 2.5 thousand more than the commercial quantity.
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“The commercial quantity of this drug is .1 gram. It's a synthetic drug and is very dangerous. It's the biggest seizure in the last 2 decades,” Singh said. The Dy DIG (NR) said that it was a huge network and was spread across Poland, Netherlands, USA, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
“They used cryptocurrency and darknet. 2.5 kg marijuana, Rs 4.65 lakh and 20 lakhs deposited in bank accounts were seized,” he added. The busting of the drug cartel comes over a month after the NCB busted another multi-drug cartel in Goa. The multi-drug cartel was busted by the NCB in Goa in an operation that spanned over two weeks.
Three persons including two Russian nationals were arrested in that case in an intensified drive against international drug trafficking. Drugs along with Indian and foreign currencies, fake documents, and IDs were also seized from their possession. Along with various forms of drugs, total proceeds in cash recovery valued at Rs 488,000, USD 1829, and Thai Baht 1720 were also recovered from them.
