13,000 LSD Blots Seized, 3 Arrested As NCB Busts India’s 'Biggest' Darknet LSD Cartel

Singh said that the drug cartel was being operated by young educated men in the age bracket of 21-25 years.

NCB seized around 13,000 LSD blots and Rs 26 lakh in cash. (Representative Image)

Source : Getty

New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday said it has busted the "biggest" darknet-based LSD cartel operating in India and seized around 13,000 LSD blots, Rs 26 lakh in cash. The agency stated that it has arrested three persons in connection with the drug cartel, reported news agency PTI.

NCB Deputy Director General (operations and enforcement) Gyaneshwar Singh said that the cartel named 'Zambada' has a "high volume of business and supply chain" of this hallucinogenic category of drug and is also operating in the UK, the US, South Africa, Canada, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkiye.

Singh said that the drug cartel was being operated by young educated men in the age bracket of 21-25 years.

According to officials, it is the second LSD trafficking cartel busted by the agency in the last about three months.

Earlier in June, the central agency had seized a cache of 15,000 LSD blots, the highest-ever catch in one operation, and arrested half-a-dozen people.

In continued operations, it was learnt that the largest cartel operating in LSD on the darknet - Zambada- operates from Delhi-NCR, Singh said.

Two of the ground operators of this cartel were identified through technical and human surveillance and this led to the location of the "mastermind" of this cartel who was operating from Ballabgarh (Faridabad) in Haryana, he said.

The NCB Delhi zonal office conducted multiple raids at the premises of these three persons leading to the seizure of 13,863 LSD blots, 428 grams MDMA (ecstasy), and the freezing of  Rs 26.73 lakh "drug money", agency officials said.

According to the agency, the 'Zambada' cartel was the "only" cartel in the country with a so-called "5-star rating".

The NCB said it is working to unearth the third such known LSD cartel operating in the country. As part of the two earlier busts, it has registered a total of six cases in Delhi under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) leading to the arrest of 22 Indians till now.

The two operations led to a total seizure of 29,013 LSD blots and 472 grams of MDMA powder and the freezing of Rs.51.38 lakh cash or "drug money".