NCB busts dark web-based drugs trafficking network; seizes Rs 5-cr party drugs

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday said it has busted a dark web-based drugs trafficking network with the arrest of two persons and seizure of a "large" quantity of contraband usually abused in rave parties.

The network, alleged to have shipped more than 1,000 consignments since January 2025, used to operate under the code name 'Team Kalki' and was using crypto currency to launder the alleged proceeds of crime or the illicit drugs money, according to the NCB.

The federal anti-narcotics agency said it seized 2,338 LSD blots, 160 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills, about 73 grams of charas (cannabis), 3.64 grams of amphetamine and 3.6 kg of liquid MDMA from 13 domestically intercepted parcels apart from two parcels that originated from the Netherlands.

The estimated value of the seized drugs, usually abused in rave parties, is Rs 5 crore in the international market, officials told PTI.

"The seizure highlights the growing use of darknet marketplaces and encrypted communication platforms by drug traffickers to distribute narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

"The operation marks one of the significant crackdowns on darknet-based narcotics trafficking networks operating in India," the NCB said in a statement.

Two "habitual offenders" of drug crimes, Anurag Thakur and Vikas Rathi, have been arrested by the NCB after it tracked the clandestine network for about three months.

The agency said the two accused sourced LSD and MDMA from international darknet vendors based in the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, and orders from Indian customers were received through encrypted platforms such as the dark web forum 'Dread' and the 'Session' messaging application, enabling anonymity and concealment of digital footprints.

The operators of the network used the "dead drop" delivery network in some parts of Delhi, where drug parcels are dropped at pre-determined locations instead of being handed over directly to the customers. This method allows secrecy in drug crimes.

For pan-India deliveries, as per the NCB, the accused predominantly used Speed Post (India Post) and other courier services.

The NCB said the network is suspected to have dispatched more than 1,000 consignments since January 2025 and the investigators have recovered multiple electronic devices from the accused apart from a crypto currency wallet.

The agency in the past has busted two such dark web-based drugs trafficking networks as part of operations named 'Zambada' (2023) and 'Ketamelon' (2025). PTI NES KVK KVK