NCB files chargesheet against members of infamous darknet drug cartel

Kochi, Dec 29 (PTI) The NCB has filed a chargesheet before a court here in a case against members of the "Ketamelon" cartel accused of ordering drugs through the darknet, officials said on Monday.

A Narcotics Control Bureau official said the chargesheet was filed before the Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions Court on December 23.

According to officials, the chargesheet names Muvattupuzha native Edison Babu, Arun Thomas, Sandeep Sajeev of North Paravoor, who is currently based in the UK, and Harikrishnan Aji Nawas, who is located in Australia.

In June this year, the federal agency seized 1,127 suspected LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) blots, 131.66 grams of ketamine and cryptocurrency assets worth Rs 90 lakh during an operation code-named "MELON".

NCB officials said the accused were operating a darknet cartel named "Ketamelon", which had links across India.

According to the agency, Babu, the prime accused, allegedly placed orders for drugs through the darknet, which were shipped from the UK by Sajeev.

Officials said Nawas handled cryptocurrency transactions involving payments received for the drugs supplied by Babu.

The NCB has approached Interpol to trace the two accused based abroad, an official said.

So far, assets worth over Rs 3 crore belonging to Edison Babu have been seized, including a shopping complex in Muvattupuzha valued at around Rs 85 lakh, cryptocurrency worth about Rs 1.5 crore, and another property in Idukki, officials said.

The NCB probe revealed that drugs ordered by Babu via the darknet arrived as parcels from abroad, carefully concealed to evade detection by Customs at international post offices.

The drugs were later distributed to various parts of India and also sent abroad, officials said.

According to the NCB, the drugs were primarily sourced from a UK-based vendor named GungaDin, an associate of Dr Seuss, also known as Tribe Seuss, who is believed to be one of the largest LSD suppliers in the world. PTI TBA TBA SA