India’s “Most Prolific Darknet Drug Syndicate” used Monet to avoid police

The Indian Drug Control Bureau (NCB) has dismantled what is called the “most prolific darknet drug syndicate” in the country, where his own family arrested a 35-year-old engineer from Mvatupuza, where he has been accused of running the network while single while his own family is not aware of the illegal activities.

Edison, a mechanical engineer and Kerala native, was arrested Tuesday under the codename “Melon,” which seized cryptocurrency assets exceeding $82,027 (£70 lacs).

The suspect is said to have been the only “Level 4” darknet vendor in the country under the Monica “Ketamelon” for the past two years, according to local media reports.

Edison is said to have sourced medicines from global suppliers, washed revenues through Privacy Coin Monero (XMR) and shipped drugs to cities in India.

Monero is a privacy-centric cryptography designed to mask transaction details, making it a priority payment method for DarkNet drug dealers and cybercriminals.

In a recent blog, Blockchain Analytics Firm Chainalysis said that Darknet Market operators “learned the results of running a market that accepts BTC with currency transparency in mind,” adding that “now we only accept Monero.”

Chain Orisis found that while 2024 was a “recorded year of overall crypto crime revenue,” the inflow into darknet markets and fraudulent stores reduced, and “won $225 million when DNM exceeded $2 billion in BTC on-chain.”

“Total privacy is difficult”

However, experts warn that privacy coins are not innocent.

Andrew Fearman, Chain Olysis’s head of national security intelligence, said Decryption “There are concerns that more criminals will move to Privacy Coin for anonymity, but the majority of criminal activities still use mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Stubcoin.”

He said these “continue to resort to criminals on the same grounds as they appeal to those who use them for legal purposes.

But “developing full privacy is extremely difficult,” Fierman said. Decryption. “Privacy Coin is not necessarily completely anonymous.”

Privacy Coin means “works on an immutable ledger,” and he said, “the evidence of criminal transactions will exist forever.”

The NCB bust followed a four-month investigation, with authorities following Edison’s operation. This is said to include more than 600 drug commissions to cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

Local media reported that Edison is “currently the largest darknet vendor in India” and is procuring drugs from the predominantly UK-based vendor, Gunga Din.

Government agencies believe that Kerala usually has fewer than 1,000 LSD blots seized each year, while Edison is said to distribute around 10,000 LSD blots nationwide each month.

NCB operations occur amid a global crackdown on cybercrime infrastructure related to cryptocurrency.

Just this week, the US Treasury approved Russian hosting provider Aeza Group, accusing them of promoting ransomware attacks targeting victims around the world and DarkNet’s drug market.