A racket of procuring narcotic drugs through Dark Web and supplying to high-profile customers from the film industry, employees of multi-national companies and students of reputed educational institutions in Hyderabad was busted by officials of the Telangana Excise and Prohibition on Sunday.
E&P Director Akun Sabharwal told a press conference that 700 dots of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), estimated at a market value of ₹21 lakh, was seized by arresting three persons. Huunt was on for two more persons.
Another narcotic drug, Methyl Enedioxy Methamphetamine (MDMA), also known as Ecstacy, weighing 35 grams, was seized.
The arrested persons were Md. Abdul Quddos, 29, his brother Md. Abdul Waheb, 20, and Calvin Mascrenhas, 29. The two siblings are from Charminar of Old City and the third is from Balanagar.
Among the drug users identified by the investigators were a noted film producer, top-level employees of MNCs and students of well-known schools and colleges. Seven of the 21 high-profile customers identified so far by the investigators were already questioned.
“This includes a ninth standard student. More than penal action, they require counselling and rehabilitation,” said Mr Sabharwal, adding that those who purchased narcotic drugs from the arrested trio and sold it to others would be arrested. The accused told the interrogators that they had been operating the drug racket for past three years.
Dark Web is part of Internet (World Wide Web) requiring special software to access it. Some websites hosted on Dark Web cannot be easily tracked and hence some offenders like drug peddlers use it for online sale of narcotic drugs.
Quddos and Waheb told the investigators that they used to order narcotic drugs through Dark Web and get it delivered through courier. Calvin maintained that he got the drugs from a friend in Chicago.
