Hyderabad, Sep 1 (IANS): The Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) has busted a gang of drug traffickers operating through dark web and social media, apprehending eight drug peddlers, including two inter-state traffickers.
The H-NEW seized 140 grams of charas/hash, 184 blots of LSD, 10 grams of MDMA, seven cell phones and Rs 2,000 cash, all valued at Rs 9 lakh.
Two kingpins of dark web, namely Narendra Arya alias Holy Shop, native of Rajasthan settled in Goa, and Farhan Mohammed Ansari alias Treeminator, native of Rajasthan, have been arrested.
The six drug peddlers are Utkarsh Umang alias Ashu, Sahil Sharma, Abdullah Khan, Indra Kumar, Charan Kumar, and P. Bushan Raj.
The police registered three cases against the accused and identified 30 consumers.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand told reporters that all the transactions on the dar web were done through crypto currency payments.
He said Narendra and Ansari were doing drug trafficking through dark web with the help of social media networks and using single-use crypto wallets and other hidden apps to deliver drugs to consumers at their homes through courier or second-level peddlers.
Police claimed that Narendra alone has 450 customers throughout India. Police investigation revealed that nearly Rs 30 lakh transactions were made in crypto currency throughout India for trafficking the drugs.
Ansari, a native of Madhya Pradesh and settled in Rajasthan, was pursuing B. Tech final year. According to police, for last six months he was doing online drug trafficking through dark web with the help of social networks.
The accused was using courier and India Post to deliver the drug at home by neatly packing the boxes, envelopes, stationery items, etc.
Six peddlers, all residents of Hyderabad, were procuring the drug from through dark web to hide their identity.
Utkarsh Umang alias Ashu and Sahil Sharma had completed BBA from the same college. They purchased drugs in massive quantity.
The seized material was handed over to Humayun Nagar, Chaderghat and Jubilee Hills police stations for necessary action.
The Police Commissioner said so far 30 drug consumers were identified and the investigation was on to identify the others.