Ernakulam: In a major drug bust case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has revealed details of a massive international drug racket operating through the darknet, seizing over Rs one crore worth of narcotics and crypto assets.
The operation is led by the NCB Cochin Zonal Unit, the raid resulted in the seizure of 1,127 LSD blots, 131.66 grams of Ketamine, and cryptocurrency assets worth Rs 70 lakh and thus terming it as one of the biggest LSD busts in the country.
The operation began on June 28 when officers intercepted 280 LSD blots from three international parcels at the Kochi International Post Office.
A Muvattupuzha native, believed to be the kingpin, is among two people taken into custody in the high-stakes operation code-named ‘Operation MELON.’
Officials discovered a pen drive containing TAILS OS, the operating system designed for accessing darknet markets, along with multiple crypto wallets, hard disks with incriminating material, and a hardware wallet loaded with Rs 70 lakh worth of USDT.
NCB sources revealed that the accused operated under the alias ‘Ketamelon’, identified as India’s only Level 4 vendor on the darknet — a status awarded based on the quality of drugs sold and customer satisfaction.
The moniker is said to be inspired by his early dealings in Ketamine, before expanding to LSD.
According to the NCB, the drugs were allegedly sourced from ‘Gunga Din’, a UK-based supplier linked to Dr Seuss aka DS or Tribe Seuss, the world’s largest LSD distributor.
Police expands use of ‘Grapnel’ tool to curb cybercrime
In a bid to enhance decentralized monitoring of dark web, the police have decided to allow use of ‘grapnel’ — a tool it developed to trawl data from the underbelly of internet — in all the 20 police districts in the state. Dark web is a part of the internet that can be accessed only using encrypted software and protocols.
The new decision will see it being used in cyber stations in all the police districts.
Until now, ‘grapnel’ was allowed to be used only in the cyber division located in the police headquarters.