Dark Web, bitcoin abet drug peddling in Delhi

NEW DELHI: International post office has become a soft transit point as it is being exploited by international drug syndicates to pump in contraband substances into the national capital and other parts of the country. The cartels are using “Dark Web” to supply drugs to their associates and customers.

Dark Web is a part of the Internet that isn’t indexed by search engines. It is termed as hotbed of criminal activity. “International post office has come under the radar of law enforcement agencies as these drug traffickers play smart and use virtual world to avoid any arrest and risk and use postal services to dodge the authorities.

Explaining the modus operandi, a senior police official said: “The parcels received through this portal have incomplete addresses and do have pseudo-names of the recipient most of the time to erase their footprints. The alleged person personally collects the parcels from the post office as leaving no clues about his/her whereabouts. The agencies are also keeping a tab on the postal employees to find any suspected link between them and drug syndicates.

In recent years, drug trafficking on the Dark Web has exploded as drug traffickers and other criminals have discovered that its anonymity makes it ideal for illicit transactions using cryptocurrencies. The Dark Web is enabling users to become dealers overnight, official said.

A senior police official said that the national capital and its peripherry has become a transit point for the traffickers. No matter where the reciepent is, in most of the cases the contraband substances first come to Delhi and later get distributed to other parts of the country.

According to Dr Ajit Kumar Singla, additional commissioner of police, crime branch, they have arrested several people and peddlers who use Dark Web to order various narcotics substances. “Crime Branch monitors movements of drug peddlers and also keeps tab on the packages coming from foreign soils and also the new route of suppliers,” said Dr Singla.

Investigations have found that drugs are being supplied by underground operators who are using couriers from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Drugs are also finding way into the national capital from Myanmar-Manipur border and Afghanistan narco cartel.

The peddlers have penetrated deep inside the universities and educational institutions in national capital region. The ease of access and minimum chances of being caught has encouraged the youths as they get the desired contraband on a single phone call or a single click on their keyboard at their doorsteps.

Around 543 cases have been registered and police have also arrested 687 criminals indulged in supplying and selling drugs in the city, said a senior police official.