The NCB arrested the first dark net drug peddler in India’s history. The authorities took hold of over 55,000 tablets during the raid. The NCB is among the participants of ‘Operation Trance’. This is international repression on illegal dark web supply of narcotics using international postal and delivery services.
“Global post offices and international courier services were used as logistics for illicit trade. The payment gateways of crypto currency were used by the operators to conceal the transactions from law enforcement agencies.”
Moreover, the 21 years old defendant, Dipu Singh is the son of a retired army officer. The NCA has indicted him for selling a variety of psychotropic and prescription tablets through the dark web. According to the authorities, Sign sells his drugs to the United States, Europe and various countries across the globe.
In addition, Sign initially began dealing with erectile dysfunction and health supplements on the dark internet. Eventually, he gradually switched attention to dealing tramadol, zolpidem, alprazolam on top of other psychotropic prescription drugs.
Moving forward, the central anti-narcotics agency has indicted Sign; under the jurisdiction of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Additionally, he allegedly used several applications such as Darknet, wickerIds, Whatsapp and B2B platforms; to facilitate his sales.
In conclusion, one of the earliest use cases of crypto in the deep dark market was the notorious Silk Road by Ross Ulbricht. Nevertheless, the authorities tried to use Ulbricht as an example to stop others from using digital currencies and encryption to purchase and sell substances on the internet. However, it looks more likely that the dark web will survive.