The investigation into the seizure of 200 LSD stamps couriered from Poland to a man in Thalassery last month has left the excise officials dumbstruck.
The seizure was made from a parcel received at the postal appraisal office of the Customs in Kochi in the wake of which the recipient, 35-year-old Vyas, was arrested from his house. Officials had also recovered 105g ganja, 18.75g hashish, 604.20mg MDMA, 36MG LSD stamps, and 254.20 heroine from his home. His mobile phone and laptop were also seized.
“His laptop was literally overflowing with evidence of his drug dealings. He was found to be ordering drugs from multiple foreign destinations as far back as 2016. We have so far received evidence about drug parcels received from Netherlands, Mexico, Poland, U.S., U.K., and Qatar,” said B. Tenymon, Assistant Excise Commissioner, Ernakulam.
He had paid for the orders placed on the Dark Web through cryptocurrency since the time when digital currency was a relatively new phenomenon in this part of the world. Trained as an electronics engineer and having worked in the call centres of multiple international companies, the accused obviously had advanced knowledge in computer affairs, said Mr. Tenymon.
“We have received irrefutable evidence of his drug dealings from the laptop to authenticate which we have submitted it for forensic examination. We are also getting hold of his bank account transactions and call records to corroborate his guilt. If convicted, he is looking at anywhere between 10 years to 20 years of imprisonment since the seized drugs were of commercial quantity as per the NDPS Act,” he said.
The accused never sold the drugs to anyone in Kerala but mostly to organisers of the rave parties in cities like Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Puducherry. He had completely flown under the radar of the enforcement agencies in Kerala till his arrest.
The accused used to spend most of his time cocooned on the first floor of his home. He slept through the day and stayed up through the night.
“His parents had no clue about his activities as he had convinced them that he was working for some call centre and hence had to stay up during nights. He also didn’t create any trouble at home and was therefore largely left alone,” said Mr. Tenymon.
