In the past one year, the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force (STF) has arrested two dozen youths, belonging to six gangs, who were procuring drugs online through the dark web and supplying the narcotics foreign countries.
STF sources said that some 24 more youngsters, involved in such acts in Lucknow, are under their scanner and will be arrested soon.
The sources said that following a crackdown on an online drug syndicate by the NCB and the Delhi Police, the gang members shifted their focus towards southern states as well as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
An officer of the STF said that tramadol is the most common drug smuggled from the city to the US and Canada as they are banned in many countries, but are easily available here and are not included in the 1971 UN convention schedule on psychotropic substances.
Besides, ayurvedic tablets containing opium like Kamini Vidrawan Ras and Barshasa are also being illegally routed to western countries from the city.
Gangs involved in supplying these drugs to foreign countries are thriving in almost all the parts of the city, including Wazirganj, Aishbagh and Bijnore.
The STF, earlier this week, had busted a gang of techies who sold prohibited drugs and psychotropic substances from the dark web and charged the money through e-wallets or bitcoins.
Deputy SP, STF, Deepak Kumar Singh, who has unearthed several such gangs from the city, said that the STF was working to nail other persons involved in the racket.
Singh said that the syndicate uses ‘ToR’, an anonymous network that hides your identity as you browse the web, share content or engage in other online activities and further create bitcoin to escape the money trail.
“A drug network which was busted by the STF in the city recently had smuggled these drugs to the US, over 150 times. The gang members used to put a label on the drug consignment, stating that the box contained herbal immunity booster, a mixture of 14 herbs and ayurvedic medicines. Once the consignment reached their destination they were paid through bitcoin, PayPal,” he said, adding that two main operators linked with this busted gang are now under lens and will be arrested soon.
Meanwhile, the STF sources said that the mastermind of a gang busted in Lucknow on December 26 used to attract customers by advertisements on Instagram, Telegram and Skype.
20230616-132803
