Bitcoin worth Rs 130 crore seized: ED found bitcoins linked to Liston’s name which were proceeds of crime from drug sales in various countries.
ED
has seized 268 bitcoins from the Haldwani house of international drug mafia Banmeet Narula. Their price in Indian Rupees is around Rs 130 Crores. According to the ED, Banmeet and his brother used it to buy and sell drugs through the dark web.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently said it has seized cryptocurrency worth over Rs 130 crore and arrested a man from Uttarakhand as part of a drug-trafficking-related money laundering probe launched at the request of US authorities.
After searching the area, the accused was taken into custody from Haldwani in Nainital on April 27.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said the accused used to sell drugs through the dark web. They had customers in most European countries. The investigation was initiated based on a request received from the US authorities.
Parvinder Singh and his brother Banmeet Singh and a few others are accused of running an international drug smuggling ring called Singh DTO. They raised money by selling cryptocurrency transactions on the dark web market.
The accused used the name Liston on dark web markets like Silk Road 1, Alpha Bay and Hansa.
The ED found bitcoins linked to Liston’s name which were proceeds of crime from drug sales in various countries. US authorities have already seized tens of thousands of crores of rupees worth of bitcoins, the agency said.
The #ED has seized Bitcoins worth ₹130.48 crore following the arrest of one Parvinder Singh on the request from the U.S. authorities in connection with an international criminal syndicate named “Singh DTO“. @deveshpd reports. https://t.co/bHmXlOl9EW
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) May 5, 2024
Recently, the largest ever consignment of LSD in Uttarakhand was seized by the Dehradun police. It has also come to light that smugglers are ordering LSD through dark web.
The Dark Web is an aspect of the Internet that is generally overlooked. Bitcoin and many similar virtual currencies are traded on the dark web. No bank account or its network is used in their operation. Instead, they operate on their own servers.
In such cases, the police or other investigative agencies cannot directly trace who is active on the dark web and at what time.
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