“The suppliers and consumers intercepted by us had no personal interaction and every contact was on the darknet,” Singh said. NCB’s deputy DG Singh said the latest seizure of about 15,000 LSD blots is 2,500 times of the commercial quantity. 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. 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. “Due to intensified vigilance and improved coordination, drug seizures have exponentially increased in India in the last few years,” the home minister said on Twitter.
That’s why it has such a foreboding and even dangerous reputation. It is used by many for buying or selling items that are prohibited on the regular internet, like fake IDs, illegal drugs, and stolen data. Operation MELON represents a significant and timely success in India’s fight against darknet-facilitated drug trafficking. The bust of “Ketamelon”—a Level 4 darknet vendor—underscores the evolving sophistication of narcotics syndicates, combining tech-savvy concealment with global supply chains.
The 9 Most Private Cryptocurrencies In 2025
- Like most of the markets, STYX supports Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (XMR), and other crypto tokens to keep everyone’s identity hidden on this marketplace.
- However, if we’re being honest, the majority of activity on darknet markets involves illegal or heavily regulated items.
- The man running the operations in India was in close contact with a darknet operator named Dr. Seuss aka DS, TS (Tribe Seuss) and Gamma Goblin, who is allegedly the largest source of LSD across the globe.
- He used to source large quantities of synthetic drugs through the darknet and sell them to his customers.
- The marketplace is well-known for its bug bounty programs and robust security mechanisms, including mandatory 2FA.
- The fallout for victims whose data is stolen and sold can be devastating.
The Vienna-headquartered International Narcotcis Control Board (INCB) has published its annual report for 2021 putting spotlight on the South Asian and the Indian drugs scenario under the topic ‘analysing of the world situation’. The operation was carried out by the Amritsar Commissionerate Police in close coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) and Rajasthan Police. According to police, the consignment was linked to a Pakistan-based smuggler, Tanveer Shah, and a Canada-based handler, Joban Kaler.
Common Scams And Fraudulent Activities On Darknet Markets
Now, that is not to say illegal behavior is completely beyond detection. The dark web combines encryption, anonymity, and hidden doorways to provide the perfect sanctuary for such illicit activity compared to the usual internet, which is more vulnerable and trackable. The dark web is designed in such a manner that it hides the identities and locations of its visitors. This extra privacy makes it much harder for authorities to track down who runs these markets and where they are located. For these reasons, most of these stores naturally like the dark web due to its protection. The dark web is a hidden section of the internet that you cannot reach with common search engines like Bing or Google.
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The NCB said the cartel’s name is derived from Ismael-Marlo Zambada Garcia, a Mexican drug lord, and he was the last remaining fugitive on the list of Mexico’s 37 most wanted drug criminals. The ‘Zambada’ cartel, according to the agency, was the “only” cartel in the country with a so-called ‘5-star rating’. If you want more peace of mind, NordVPN has a dark web monitoring tool you can consider using. This handy feature monitors the dark web for signs that your login details or other personal info have been leaked. However, the dark web is so complex and vast that if law enforcement takes down one market, it pops up elsewhere.
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Edison allegedly sourced drugs from global suppliers, laundered proceeds via privacy coin Monero (XMR), and shipped narcotics to cities across India. The suspect had allegedly been operating as the country’s only ‘Level 4’ darknet vendor under the moniker “Ketamelon” for the past two years, according to reports in local media. “One is a student who is from Goa but enrolled at a private university in Noida, another is a Delhi boy who was trying to send some of these blots to Kashmir and a girl who has been arrested from the NCR,” the zonal director said. He said the operation was undertaken by a special team of the Delhi zonal unit of the agency after they “patrolled” the darknet for many hours. It is trafficked by painting it on blots, half the size of a stamp paper, and is consumed by licking or swallowing. It is the second LSD trafficking cartel busted by the agency in the last about three months, officials said.
The Top 10 Darknet Marketplaces Of 2025
As dark web crimes grow in scale and complexity, experts warn that India needs to invest more in digital forensics, inter-agency coordination, and public awareness campaigns to keep the internet safe. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments.
NCB Arrests 22 In Darknet Drugs Network Bust After Pan-India Raids
Investigations revealed that “Ketamelon” was India’s only Level 4 darknet vendor, a top-tier status in India, operating actively over the past two years. The name derives from the vendor’s early involvement in Ketamine smuggling. Drugs were primarily sourced from a UK-based vendor, Gunga Din, a known reshipper of the globally infamous Dr Seuss (aka DS or Tribe Seuss), believed to be the largest LSD source in the world. “The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international criminal gang that dealt in drugs using DarkNet and cryptocurrency with linkages in several countries as well as multiple States in India,” sources said.
Ketamelon Expose: How NCB & Binance Brought Down India’s Top Darknet Drug Syndicate
Drugs were sourced from Gunga Din, a UK-based vendor affiliated with “Dr Seuss” or “Tribe Seuss”, the world’s most notorious LSD supplier. Investigators discovered that the racket was run by Muvattupuzha native Edison. The group used Monero (XMR), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency popular in illegal transactions. This article reveals the top 10 dark web markets dominating in 2025, their unique characteristics, and the critical implications for enterprise cybersecurity. NCB officials said ‘Ketamelon’ was India’s only Level 4 darknet vendor — kind of a top-tier status — operating “actively” over the past two years.
The story of dark web marketplaces kicks off with Silk Road, launched in 2011. It was the first big site where people could anonymously buy drugs using Bitcoin, and it gained a lot of attention, until it was shut down by the FBI in 2013. The operation seized over 1,100 Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) blots, 131 grams of Ketamine and cryptocurrency worth Rs 70 lakh in a coordinated operation codenamed ‘MELON’. NCB had busted a similar darknet-based LSD cartel named Zambada in 2023 and it had arrested 14 persons in the case apart from seizing 29,013 LSD blots, 472 grams of MDMA and ₹51.38 lakh in cash.
Although these marketplaces are continuously shut down by law enforcement agencies, they still work today. Interestingly, new sites get more hype, and it even becomes difficult to shut them down, as they have better security than the older ones. The NCB’s ability to adapt with coordinated postal surveillance, digital forensics, and crypto-tracing signals progress, but also highlights persistent vulnerabilities.
The Marketplace As An Arsenal
Once the drugs arrived, he would directly approach the courier office to receive the parcel. Similarly, he used fake IDs and SIM cards sourced from the darknet to send drugs to customers who placed orders through his network. Earlier in 2023, NCB busted the then biggest darknet based LSD cartel named “Zambada”, seizing 29,013 blots of LSD, 472 grams of MDMA & Rs.51.38 Lakh cash and arrested 14 persons out of which main kingpins are under judicial custody. Seventeen people were arrested, including kingpins, traffickers, white-collar criminals, two Afghan heroin processing experts and members of the alleged Jaggu Bhagwan Puria gang.
