08-07-2025
Court grants NCB 4-day custody
Kochi: Ernakulam first class sessions court granted four days' custody of the darknet drug trafficking case suspects, Edison Babu and Arun Thomas, to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for comprehensive interrogation.
NCB's initial request was for a five-day custody period.
NCB sought custody to conduct detailed questioning of Babu, identified as the primary accused, along with his associate Thomas. Following their medical examination, both suspects were transported from Muvattupuzha Sub Jail to appear before the court. Judge K N Ajith Kumar reviewed and approved the four-day custody application.
Earlier, NCB's Cochin zonal unit successfully disrupted one of India's leading darknet drug operations known as 'Ketamelon'.
The operation, named 'MELON', led to the confiscation of 1,127 LSD blots, 131.66g of Ketamine, alongside cryptocurrency assets valued at Rs 70 lakh.
Following extensive surveillance, on June 28, authorities seized 280 LSD blots from postal parcels in Kochi. Subsequent searches revealed 847 additional LSD blots, Ketamine, darknet access equipment including a TAILS operating system and various cryptocurrency wallets containing approximately Rs 70 lakh in USDT.
According to sources from NCB, Edison worked with top-tier firms in India and abroad, operating from his personal computer at his residence in Muvattupuzha. Targeted operations that lasted nearly five months resulted in nabbing him.
