The narcotics wing of the Central Crime Branch police arrested five people, including two software engineers and a law student, from a well-known college in Bengaluru for their alleged involvement in an inter-State drug racket. The police recovered synthetic drugs, hashish and marijuana worth ₹30 lakh from the paying guest accommodation in Byadarahalli where they were residing.
The police team seized 300 ecstasy pills, 150 LSD strips, 250 grams of hashish and one kg of marijunana from the accused, whose names have been withheld in the press note that was issued by the CCB. Three more accused are on the run.
According to the CCB, the gang sourced the drugs from abroad through dealers via the dark net. However, to evade the stringent scrutiny that international packages are subjected to in Bengaluru, the accused travelled to Himachal Pradesh to pick up the consignments.
“Consignments were shipped to Himachal Pradesh via international courier firms. Payments were made in bitcoin. The accused would travel there and collect the consignments to avoid undue attention. The gang would return to Bengaluru with the drugs, and use delivery partners on Dunzo to send orders to clients. Payments were made via e-wallets,” said a police official. The drugs were packaged to make it look like they came from a well-known online retail platform.
Three more members of the gang are on the run. “Two of the arrested accused work in IT companies and initially distributed free drugs to their colleagues to get them hooked. The third accused, a law student, sold drugs to his classmates and friends using the same modus operandi,” said the police.
The CCB have booked the accused under NDPS Act and IT Act and efforts are on to track down remaining three accused who are on the run.
