NCB arrests six in 'largest ever' LSD seizure, claims to have busted darknet based drug cartel

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday claimed to have made its largest-ever bust of 15,000 LSD blots. The central agency said that a pan-India drug trafficking operation was going on through the dark web with linkages to Poland, Netherlands and US. 

NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh informed that the commercial network sourced LSD from foreign countries and then distributed it to youngsters in India via social media platforms and took payments via UPI and darknet.

“This network used the dark net in their dealing. This network operated virtually and the payments were made via cryptocurrency and crypto wallets. The buyer and the seller did not have any physical contact,” NCB's Gyaneshwar Singh was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times

In a conversation with the new agency ANI, the NCB officer explained that the commercial quantity for LSD is 0.1 grams which is almost equal to 5-6 blots. While NCB has seized 15,000 blots which is around 2,500 times the commercial quantity.

LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide is a synthetic chemical based-drug which has no smell or taste. 

Gyaneshwar Singh said it is a worrying sign that LSD is slowly becoming popular among the youth in India. He also revealed that 2-4 spots can be made in a postage stamp-sized paper and it can avoid scanning by government agencies by being passed off in any book or piece of paper.

“Each half is called an LSD blot. The drug users swallow one blot. About 4-5 blots make for one commercial quantity and are trafficked. Because of its size, LSD blot is easier to smuggle such blots. You can hide it in a book or carry it easily,” Singh added 

Before the current operation, the highest seizure of LSD was 5,000 blots which were undertaken by the Karnataka Police in 2021. 

(With inputs from agencies)