On Friday, the Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing smashed a gang of drug traffickers operating through the dark web and arrested two ‘dark web kingpins’, besides six other alleged drug peddlers for illegal crypto transactions. Notably, the police in a statement said that lakhs of transactions were made in cryptocurrency throughout India for trafficking drugs. These transactions were made through several crypto exchanges, such as WazirX, Binance and the local Monero crypto exchange.
“Yesterday we blasted a drug racket in the dark web; in the dark web there was a forum, where suppliers were advertising for the drugs; they had given WhatsApp, Telegram ID and other ways of communicating IDs. And all these transactions took place in cryptocurrencies; and these people were using several exchanges such as WazirX, Binance and the local Monero crypto exchange. They were using a courier to transport drugs,” Rajesh, Inspector of Police, Narcotic Enforcement Wing Hyderabad City told India Today.
Narendra Arya alias ‘Holy Shop‘ and Farhan Mohammed Ansari aka ‘Treeminator‘ have been named as the two “kingpins.”
Utkarsh Umang alias Ashu, Sahil Sharma, Abdullah Khan, Indra Kumar, Charan Kumar, and P. Bushan Raj, all natives of Hyderabad, were the other six drug dealers. Additionally, 30 drug users have been found.
According to Hyderabad police, Arya was allegedly involved in drug trafficking online through the dark web. Investigation revealed that Arya had 450 customers across India and used cryptocurrencies for transactions totaling Rs 30 lakh.
“Another prime suspect and kingpin of Dark Web (Drug Suppliers) Farhan Mohd. Ansari @ TREEMINATOR, Age: 22 years, native of Madhya Pradesh and settled in Rajasthan and pursuing B. Tech Final year. Past 6 months he is doing online Drug Trafficking through Dark web with the help of Social Networks,” says Hydrabad Police press statement.
Moreover, police during the raid seized 140 grams of Charas/Hash, 184 blots of LSD’S, 10 grams of MDMA, 7 cell phones, and Rs 2000 cash.
Additionally, police said that the peddlers Utkarsh Umang, Sahil Sharma, Abdullah Ansar Ahmed Khan, Indra Kumar, Aviti Charan Kumar and P. Bushan Raj all are peddlers and residents of Hyderabad.
On this matter, Sharat Chandra, Co-Founder, of India Blockchain Forum, says,” With several crypto analysis tools at disposal, regulators, as well as law enforcement authorities, can track crypto transactions easily. Illicit activities involving crypto have reduced significantly and will gradually become insignificant as compared to fiat money. . A significant share of drug trafficking still involves fiat currency. Criminals are more likely to switch to TradFi system to avoid detection.”
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