By Chandrima Mazumdar
In one of the most significant drug trafficking raids by Central Crime Bangalore (CCB), the big shot of cocaine supply in Bengaluru who goes by the name “Chief” is now behind bars. According to Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Sandeep Patil, the man, who’s real name is Chidiebere Ambrose, was supplying drugs to foreign drug peddlers and was in touch with them. More investigation on this case is going on.
On December 3, the CCB had busted another case of drug procurement through darknet using bitcoins, in which one peddler was arrested and stamp-size LSD drugs were seized. The narcotics were allegedly smuggled from the Netherlands. Just a day ago, another drug procurement through the dark web was detected and two peddlers were arrested and 1000 LSD strips worth Rs 50 lakhs were seized. The raid by CCB Anti-Narcotics wing was headed by inspector Virupaksha. Darknet and bitcoins have emerged as a growing problem for the police.
On November 18, Hacker Sriki was arrested for his dealings in crypto currency in which he made illegal gains, while also trying to hack government websites.
On December 3, another racket was busted in which SJ Park Police arrested the owner of a travel agency and seized 60 kg of marijuana worth Rs 30 lakhs. The accused, R Pradeep Kumar, who owns Bangalore Transport Solutions, used his fleet of 25 cabs to smuggle contraband into the city from his source, Saleem, in Kolar.
On November 18, two Nigerians were arrested on accounts of pushing drugs on the basis of the information provided by their accomplice, who was arrested on October 30. The trio is suspected to have been peddling drugs in the city for the last many years.
On November 4, the CCB busted another organised drug racket in which African nationals, along with three local accomplices were involved. The cops seized cocaine and ecstasy, among other high-end party drugs worth Rs 1.48 crores. The narcotics were supposedly shipped from Latin America to Mumbai and Mangaluru ports.
A day prior to this (Nov 3), city police commissioner Kamal Pant mentioned raids conducted for the previous one week in which Rs 90 lakhs worth of drugs, procured using darknet and bitcoins, were seized, and ten peddlers arrested. The drugs were suspectedly being supplied to college students and others.
CCB had also arrested a 32-year-old software engineer, Saarthak Arya, for drug peddling. Ecstasy, chemical oil pills (MDMA) and LSD strips worth a few lakhs were seized from his house in HSR Layout on October 29.
