In one of the biggest hauls of synthetic drugs in Ernakulam district of Kerala in recent times, the Cochin zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted a drug racket that operated over the darknet and arrested seven persons while seizing 326 LSD blots (7.59 grams) and 8.25 grams of hashish.
The arrested were identified as Sharat Parackal Jayand, Abin Babu, Sharun Shaji, Ambady K.P., Akshay C.R., Anandakrishna Tebi and Antony Sanjay K.G, all residents of Ernakulam. All the accused were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody. The NCB has launched a detailed investigation into the racket.
The prolonged operation was launched following the interception of a postal parcel from Germany based on specific information on January 9. The parcel was found to contain 10 LSD blots (0.24 grams) addressed to Sarath Parackal Jayand, 24, of Chengamanad, near Aluva. His arrest and subsequent investigation led to the seizure of the 326 LSD blots and 8.25 grams of hashish from six different locations in Ernakulam and the arrest of six more alleged drug traffickers till January 14 (Sunday).
The NCB had reportedly carried out raids in Kochi, Kakkanad, Aluva, Eroor, among other places, as part of their operation since the seizure of the parcel from Germany via the foreign post office.
Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, as little as 0.1 gram of LSD qualifies as commercial quantity and entails rigorous imprisonment from 10 years to 20 years and a fine from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh.
Modus operandi
The racket followed a modus operandi that involved the darknet and cryptocurrency.
According to NCB officials, the network members used to pool money from customers and convert it into cryptocurrency using which orders for LSD were placed with multiple vendors on illegal darknet drug markets.
“With the seizure of 326 LSD blots, a dangerous hallucinogenic chemical drug, and the arrest of seven drug traffickers, the NCB’s Cochin zonal unit has busted the drug-trafficking network which was supplying huge quantities of LSD in and around Ernakulam,” said P. Aravindhan, zonal director, NCB Cochin, in a statement.
Parcels from abroad are being examined on a random basis ever since it has emerged as a route for smuggling in drugs. Where the description of the content on the parcels pointed towards suspected procurement from abroad despite the materials concerned are readily available locally raises a red flag. Instructions have been issued to conduct random checks of such packages, said sources.
