NCB's biggest ever LSD bust, nabs 6 in darknet ring

New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday said it has made the "largest-ever" single operation seizure of about 15,000 LSD blots in the country and arrested six people after it busted an international drugs trafficking network operating on the darknet.

The seizure, as per officials, is estimated to be worth over Rs 10 crore in the international market (about Rs 5K-7K per blot) and all the six who have been taken into custody, beginning late last month, are students and youngsters who wanted to make "easy money" by remaining anonymous within the deep layers of secret internet-based apps and messenger service like WICKR.

LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide is a synthetic chemical based-drug and is categorised as a hallucinogen. It is trafficked by painting it on blots, half the size of a stamp paper, and is consumed by licking or swallowing. "This is the "largest-ever" seizure of LSD blots in the country in a single operation. Six youngsters have been arrested till now and we are on the trail of one more such cartel," NCB deputy director general (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh told reporters here.

Those arrested are in the age group of 25-28 years, the officials said. A total of 14,961 blots were seized as part of the about two-week long operation and the blots are of "gammagoblin and holy spirit of asura" brand, Singh said. The deputy DG further said that till now, the highest seizure of LSD was 5,000 blots by the Karnataka Police during the entire span of 2021 and about a similar amount of blots by the Kolkata NCB in 2022 in a single operation.