NCB busts global drug cartel using encrypted apps, crypto and B2B platforms
The breakthrough began with the interception of a vehicle near Bengali Market in Delhi on May 25, 2025, ultimately uncovering a vast transnational operation with links to India, the US, Australia, and Europe.
The investigation was launched after the NCB HQ Operations Unit intercepted a car near Mandi House, Delhi, based on a tip-off. The vehicle's two occupants, B. Pharma graduates from a reputed Noida-based private university, were found in possession of 3.7 kg of Tramadol tablets--a controlled medication often misused as a narcotic. Their confession exposed a deeper network that involved an online vendor profile on a major Indian B2B platform, used to ship pharmaceutical pills to clients in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Subsequent leads led NCB to a stockist in Roorkee and an associate in Delhi's Mayur Vihar. Further investigation uncovered a key contact in Udupi, Karnataka, who managed bulk orders for exports. Analysis of seized data from Udupi revealed 50 international consignments 29 within the US, 18 within Australia, and one each to Estonia, Spain, and Switzerland. This intelligence was shared with international counterparts and the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).
Acting on this information, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested a key operative named Joel Hall, a re-shipper based in Alabama. Authorities seized over 17,000 tablets of controlled medicines from his possession. Multiple crypto wallets and active parcels were recovered, confirming the network's reliance on digital currency and encrypted communications. DEA also intercepted five parcels carrying around 700 grams of Zolpidem, a sedative commonly abused for recreational use.
Meanwhile, a clandestine pill-manufacturing facility linked to the network was busted in Australia by local law enforcement. The factory was found producing tablets for export as part of the syndicate's supply chain. Investigations in other countries are ongoing.
NCB's probe uncovered a multilayered structure with two distinct modules, orders and supply, managed by handlers using encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram and payment systems involving cryptocurrency, PayPal, and Western Union. The syndicate operated a call centre in Udupi, employing approximately 10 staff members, some of whom were reportedly unaware of the criminal operation. Orders placed via the B2B platform were routed through this call centre. Advance payments were made in cryptocurrency, then circulated through supply chain operators who retained a commission before the payments were disbursed to re-shippers in various countries.
According to the NCB, the mastermind who orchestrated the network's logistics and finances from the UAE has been identified, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend him with the assistance of Emirati authorities. Two more Indian nationals were arrested in Jaipur and Delhi in connection with the logistics and supply-side operations. So far, a total of eight individuals have been arrested.
In a strategic move to expand operations, repeat customers were converted into stockists or re-shippers, allowing the syndicate to grow its footprint organically across borders. Several such individuals have been identified by partner agencies abroad.
NCB has also launched financial and cyber investigations to trace cryptocurrency wallets and hawala channels involved in laundering proceeds. Collaborations are underway with private online platforms to shut down illegal pharmacy listings advertising controlled drugs.
This case, authorities say, underlines the growing intersection of digital commerce, encrypted technology, and international logistics in facilitating illicit pharmaceutical trade. It also reinforces the importance of international intelligence-sharing and collaborative enforcement actions. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
₹34-cr assets attached in Ranya Rao gold smuggling case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹34.12 crore in its money laundering probe into gold smuggling syndicate involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao, agency said on Friday while adding that the accused had detailed coordination with foreign gold suppliers, hawala operators, and Dubai-based customs agents and public officials at airports in India are also under scrutiny. Ranya Rao 'ED, Headquarter Investigative Unit-II, New Delhi has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at ₹34.12 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case involving transnational gold smuggling and laundering of its proceeds by Harshavardini Ranya alias Ranya Rao and her associates. The attached assets include immovable properties located in Bengaluru and Tumkur districts of Karnataka,' ED said in a statement. The financial crimes probe agency said it has identified proceeds of crime worth ₹55 crore in the smuggling so far. ED is among several central agencies - along with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI) - that are looking into a larger conspiracy into the gold smuggling racket. Its probe is based on a CBI case filed in March 7 this year following a complaint by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). DRI had intercepted Rao, stepdaughter of a director general of police rank officer, on March 3 at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, with 14.213 kg of concealed 24-carat foreign-origin gold, valued at ₹12.56 crore. A search of her residence led to the recovery of ₹2.67 crore in unaccounted Indian currency and gold jewellery worth ₹2.06 crore. The agency said on Friday its probe revealed that 'Ranya Rao, in active collusion with Tarun Konduru Raju and others, orchestrated a well-structured operation for smuggling gold into India'. 'Gold was procured from suppliers based in Dubai, Uganda, and other jurisdictions, and payments were made through hawala channels in cash, thereby circumventing legal financial systems. False customs declarations were filed in Dubai, fraudulently declaring the destination of gold shipments as Switzerland or the USA, while the actual travel of the gold smugglers was to India. Dual sets of travel documents were used i.e. one for the declared export destination and the other for their actual arrival in India, to evade scrutiny and facilitate smuggling through Indian airports,' ED said. Further, ED investigation has revealed that the smuggled gold was then sold within India in cash to jewellers and other local entities, and the proceeds were subsequently laundered through further hawala remittances abroad to finance repeat consignments for smuggling more gold into India. 'Evidence retrieved from the seized mobile phones and forensic extraction of digital devices, have revealed detailed coordination with foreign gold suppliers, hawala operators, and Dubai-based customs agents. Ranya Rao's involvement in generating, possessing, and circulating proceeds of crime was further corroborated by her digital footprint, which includes invoices, export declarations, foreign remittance records, and recorded chats establishing her active role in the smuggling syndicate,' agency said. Earlier, ED had in May raided 16 locations, including educational institutes linked to Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara and some hawala and forex dealers in this case. ED recorded Rao's statement during which she knowledge of the seized gold and other assets; however, her claims were demonstrably contradicted by seized physical evidence, including customs documents bearing her name, travel and purchase records, and digital conversations, agency statement said. 'Despite the seizure of 14.2 kg of smuggled gold and associated assets by DRI, the total proceeds of crime identified during ED's investigation have been quantified at ₹55.62 Crore. This includes approximately ₹38.32 Crore identified through analysis of the evidence gathered during the course of investigation by ED e.g. foreign invoices, customs declarations, and hawala-linked remittances,' ED added. 'It has also emerged during investigation that Ranya Rao was assisted at the airport upon her arrival in India, and the possible involvement of public servants in facilitating her illicit activities is under scrutiny,' it said. As a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime had been layered and reinvested into immovable assets to project them as untainted, ED said it has provisionally attached four properties of equivalent value belonging to Ranya Rao. These include a residential house in Victoria Layout, Bengaluru; a residential plot in Arkavathi Layout, Bengaluru; industrial land in Tumkur District; and agricultural land in Anekal Taluk, with a combined fair market value of ₹34.12 Crore. 'Further investigation is under progress to trace the remaining proceeds of crime and identify other individuals and entities involved in the syndicate,' it said.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Mumbai Police get notice from court for non-submission of probe report on complaint against Ekta Kapoor
A Mumbai court on Friday issued a show cause notice to the city police for not submitting an inquiry report in a criminal complaint filed against film and television producer Ekta Kapoor for allegedly disrespecting Indian soldiers in one of her web series. The probe report was to be submitted by May 9, a deadline missed by the police. As per the complaint, a web series on Alt Balaji showed a military officer engaging in an "illicit sexual act".(AFP) The magistrate's court in Bandra had in February directed the Khar police to conduct an inquiry into the complaint against Ekta and others under section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Under this section, a magistrate can carry out an inquiry into a criminal complaint, or direct the police to do so. The magistrate's court had called for a report from the police by May 9. The show cause notice was issued as the police haven't submitted the report yet. The complaint was filed by YouTuber Vikas Pathak, also known as 'Hindustani bhau'. Besides Ekta, Vikas named her OTT platform Alt Balaji, and her parents--Shobha and Jeetendra, in the complaint. As per the complaint filed through advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh, a web series on Alt Balaji showed a military officer engaging in an "illicit sexual act" in one of its episodes. Vikas came across the episode in May 2020, the complaint said. "The accused have stooped to a cheap low and shamelessly targeted the dignity and pride of our country by depicting Indian Army military uniform in the illicit sexual act with national emblem on it," the complaint said.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Delhi man held for ₹2 crore cyber fraud, links with Chinese-linked syndicate
Gurugram: Faridabad police arrested a 39-year-old Delhi resident, who runs a hotel and nightclub in Dubai, for allegedly orchestrating a ₹2.02 crore cyber fraud in collaboration with a Chinese-linked syndicate, officials said on Friday. Faridabad police arrested a 39-year-old Delhi resident, who runs a hotel and nightclub in Dubai, for a ₹ 2.02 crore cyber fraud. (Getty Images) Bhupesh Arora, originally from Karnal and currently residing in northwest Delhi's Rohini Sector 11, operates a four-star hotel and eight nightclubs in Dubai, police said, adding that he was taken into custody on Wednesday upon returning to India and is now on a four-day police remand. According to investigators, Arora and his business partner, also based in Dubai, ran a cyber fraud operation alongside their hospitality ventures. The duo facilitated illegal fund transfers from India to Dubai using payment gateways, later converting the funds into cryptocurrencies and handing them over to Chinese handlers after deducting a commission. Police said Arora was compelled to return to India 20 days back on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court. Faridabad police had got a lookout circular issued for him against which he had moved the high court. Though the court had quashed the circular, it had directed him to come to India and cooperate with the Faridabad police by joining the investigation of the case. Yashpal Yadav, Faridabad Police PRO, said investigators traced Arora through a payment gateway account linked to him, into which ₹2.8 lakh of the duped money was transferred. 'This payment gateway helped us identify Arora. The bank account holder couldn't be traced and may have been created fraudulently,' he said. Arora allegedly retained 30% of the proceeds, with the remaining 70% going to his Dubai-based partner, who liaised directly with the Chinese network, Yadav said. Arora is the 12th person arrested in this case. Police are now pursuing his business partner and three others. 'We will issue an LOC against his partner so he can be arrested on arrival in India,' said Yadav. The victim, whose name police have witheld, a 51-year-old man from Sector 88 in Faridabad, was duped in January 2024 after falling for a fake investment scheme promoted through social media ads. Believing he was investing in stock markets, he transferred ₹2.02 crore to 11 different bank accounts. A case was registered at the Cybercrime Police Station (Central), and police have so far recovered ₹60 lakh, which was returned to the victim. The remaining amount, officers said, had already been siphoned abroad.
