The estimated street value of the seized drugs is approximately ₹35.12 lakh, with LSD blots priced at ₹2,500- ₹4,000 each,” the officer added. LSD is odourless, colourless and tasteless and can be painted onto small squares of paper that people lick or swallow and it alters the sense of space, distance and time. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a hallucinogenic drug which chemically acts to change the way people sense the world around them. The estimated street value of the seized drugs is about ₹35.12 lakh with LSD blots being priced in a range of ₹2,500-₹ 4,000 each, as per the statement.
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It became the blueprint for other dark web marketplaces that tried to take its place. While this may all sound sophisticated, it is a financial crime and very risky. Those who use these services can still be traced and prosecuted if caught, especially as law enforcement continues to sharpen its tracking tools. Drug dealers can sell to customers across the world, not just locally. This expanded reach, combined with anonymity, only makes it easier for them to grow their operations without getting caught immediately. While hiring a hacker might sound like something out of a movie, it’s a very real threat.
Drug Trafficking In The Country
Such content fuels a dangerous cycle of abuse, violence, and exploitation. Want to get illegal drugs, fake passports, Trojan, or other cyber attack software? Plus, there’s a thorough vetting process for new buyers and sellers to keep the community more secure. In a way, it feels more like a private club than an open market, and that’s exactly how the operators want it. It brings in vendor reviews from other places and verifies them using PGP signatures, so buyers can feel a bit more confident about who they’re dealing with. There’s also a premium account option for users who want extra benefits.
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The estimated street value of the seized drugs is about ₹35.12 lakh, with LSD blots priced at ₹2,500-₹4,000 each. The NCB’s bust follows a four-month investigation during which authorities tracked Edison’s operations, which allegedly included over 600 drug consignments to cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh. Edison allegedly sourced drugs from global suppliers, laundered proceeds via privacy coin Monero (XMR), and shipped narcotics to cities across India. The suspect had allegedly been operating as the country’s only ‘Level 4’ darknet vendor under the moniker “Ketamelon” for the past two years, according to reports in local media. “One is a student who is from Goa but enrolled at a private university in Noida, another is a Delhi boy who was trying to send some of these blots to Kashmir and a girl who has been arrested from the NCR,” the zonal director said. He said the operation was undertaken by a special team of the Delhi zonal unit of the agency after they “patrolled” the darknet for many hours.
Narcotics Bureau Busts ‘biggest’ Darknet LSD Cartel, Seizes Rs 26 Lakh ‘drug Money’
The dark web, unlike the surface web and deep web, is a concealed part of the internet requiring specific tools such as Tor (The Onion Router) to access. While the surface web includes everyday websites and the deep web comprises password-protected platforms like banking portals, the dark web is intentionally kept anonymous. A Canadian market established in 2021, WTN offers over 9,000 products, including narcotics, fake goods, and digital services. It operates in both French and English and has built a reputation for ease-of-use. The LSD blots (a small piece of absorbent paper impregnated with lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD) seized by NCB sleuths bore the imprint Gunga Din and Rudyard Kipling.
NCB Busts Major Darknet Drug Cartel; Muvattupuzha Native Among Two Taken Into Custody
Vice City listens to the problems faced by its customers and vendors and solves them so that they can keep using the platform with ease. To access the marketplace, dark web users must register first and pass the CAPTCHA test to prove they are human. In fact, everything is in English, and the site picks up users everywhere in the world. People visit this market to buy stolen credit cards, personal data, remote desktop account credentials, and logs gathered from information-stealing malware. Torzon Market showed up on the dark web in September 2022, and it’s been growing steadily ever since.
All three parcels were traced back to the prime accused in Muvattupuzha. A swift follow-up search at his residence the next day unearthed 847 more LSD blots and over 130 grams of Ketamine — together valued at Rs 35.12 lakh. The operation was set in motion on June 28 when officers intercepted 280 LSD blots from three international parcels at the Kochi International Post Office. The seized contraband drugs have an estimated street value of approximately Rs 35.12 lakhs, officials added.
Once many users begin to rely on the site and store funds in escrow, the operators disappear, taking all the money with them and leaving their customers and clients with nothing. Some sellers offer cracked versions of expensive software that you’d typically pay hundreds of dollars for. Others sell pirated eBooks, academic materials, and entire premium courses ripped straight from paid platforms. Unfortunately, the dark web hosts not only explicit but also deeply illegal and disturbing content. The markets often share materials related to child exploitation, pornography, and non-consensual recordings, all of which are serious crimes that inflict lasting harm on real-life victims.
NCB Busts ‘Ketamelon’ Darknet Drug Syndicate, 2 Held In Raids
Binance is a leading global blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and registered users. Binance is devoted to building an inclusive crypto ecosystem to increase the freedom of money and financial access for people around the world with crypto as the fundamental means. On darknet platforms, drug syndicates are rated between 1 and 5 stars based on the potency of their products and customer service.
- While this market started in Canada in 2021, WeTheNorth now sells to both Canadian and international users.
- 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.
- Taking the lead forward, it was investigated that the parcels were booked by a suspect, leading to a search of his residence on June 29.
- It supports operations in multiple languages and operates on both clearnet and Tor.
- If someone has the market’s code to the infrastructure, no matter how much effort law enforcement puts in, it will keep coming back on another server or can be built again with the same branding.
That all is for general internet activities, you can guess how crucial having a VPN is when you hop onto something like the dark web. Imagine trusting a site where you’ve been buying or selling for months, and everything seems legit. Some marketplace operators first build trust by running a legitimate platform.
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It enhances buyer transparency by importing vendor feedback with PGP proof. Torzon offers a premium account option for additional benefits and is valued at approximately $15 million, accepting payments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR). The story of dark web marketplaces kicks off with Silk Road, launched in 2011. It was the first big site where people could anonymously buy drugs using Bitcoin, and it gained a lot of attention, until it was shut down by the FBI in 2013. The operation seized over 1,100 Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) blots, 131 grams of Ketamine and cryptocurrency worth Rs 70 lakh in a coordinated operation codenamed ‘MELON’. NCB had busted a similar darknet-based LSD cartel named Zambada in 2023 and it had arrested 14 persons in the case apart from seizing 29,013 LSD blots, 472 grams of MDMA and ₹51.38 lakh in cash.
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But these efforts of law enforcement don’t go in vain; hackers and criminals lose trust if a website or marketplace goes down. Later, in 2013, Silk Road caught the attention of law enforcement and policymakers like US Senator Charles Schumer, who publicly called for a federal crackdown. That push led to the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, after a long and intense investigation.
New software tools have been developed under cyber experts’ guidance to track and apprehend individuals involved in these transactions. Given the explosive growth of these markets, organizations must prioritize proactive threat monitoring. Axis Intelligence provides dark web surveillance solutions that help businesses identify leaked credentials, fraud attempts, and malware risks before they escalate.
The darknet—the encrypted, unindexed part of the internet accessible only through specialized software like Tor—is a notorious hub for illegal activities. It’s where international drug deals, arms sales, and illicit services are routinely brokered away from the prying eyes of law enforcement. Yet, until recently, most large-scale darknet drug operations in India were believed to be the domain of organized criminal syndicates or foreign cartels.
WeTheNorth has a strong community vibe, with an active forum where users interact and share updates. Of course, not all the popular and widely-used dark web sites and things like marketplaces on the dark net are illegal. Some use them due to privacy concerns, such as journalists talking to informants or whistleblowers, while others may simply want to protect their confidential information from observation or tracking. Nevertheless, most people on the internet do not need to communicate or venture into the dark web. Imagine an underground version of your favorite online marketplace, somewhere hidden, exclusive, and often operating outside legal boundaries.
