NEW DELHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau announced on Sunday that it had busted a drug trafficking network on the dark web by arresting two people and confiscating a “large” quantity of smuggled substances commonly used at concerts.
The network, which has allegedly shipped more than 1,000 shipments since January 2025, was operating under the codename “Team Kalki” and was using cryptocurrency to launder alleged proceeds of crime or illicit drug money, according to the NCB.
The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency said it seized 2,338 pieces of LSD, 160 MDMA tablets, about 73 grams of chara, 3.64 grams of amphetamine and 3.6 kilograms of liquid MDMA from 13 packages intercepted locally as well as two packages coming from the Netherlands.
The estimated value of the seized drugs, which are usually used at concerts, is: $5 lakh crore in the international market,” officials told PTI.
“The seizure highlights the increasing use of darknet markets and encrypted communication platforms by drug traffickers to distribute narcotics and psychotropic substances.
“The operation represents one of the significant crackdowns on darknet-based drug trafficking networks operating in India,” the NCB said in a statement.
Two “habitual criminals” in drug crimes, Anurag Thakur and Vikas Rathi, were arrested by the NCB after it traced the underground network for nearly three months.
The agency said that the accused obtained LSD and MDMA from international dark web sellers based in the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, and orders were received from Indian customers through encrypted platforms such as the dark web forum “Dread” and the messaging app “Session”, which allows for anonymity and concealment of digital fingerprints.
Network operators have used the ‘dead drop’ delivery network in some parts of Delhi, where drug parcels are dropped at pre-designated locations instead of being delivered directly to customers. This method allows for secrecy in drug crimes.
For pan-India deliveries, according to the NCB, the accused mostly used couriers and other courier services.
The NCB said the network is suspected of sending more than 1,000 shipments since January 2025, and investigators have recovered several electronic devices from the accused except for the cryptocurrency wallet.
The agency has in the past busted two drug trafficking networks on the dark web as part of operations called “Zambada” and “Ketamelon.”
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