As part of an ongoing ramp-up against the distribution of recreational drugs in the country, two residents of Mumbai, India were arrested last week after receiving parcels from Netherlands containing MDMA (Ecstasy) tablets. The individuals, identified as N Salvi and S Shukla, are suspected of being part of a drug trafficking ring operating in Mumbai that had been under “cautious and low-profiled monitoring.”
The parcel, which arrived in the country on Apr 19, was purchased from an unnamed darknet market and contained approx. 60 grams of MDMA, or 125 tablets in all. It had been identified as fitting a pattern of packages arriving from foreign countries that were likely to contain illegal substances. The total value of the drugs intercepted from international suppliers was estimated to be around $6,100.
Photo of the MDMA pills confiscated by law enforcement in India. Source: Atul Singh, India TV
Law enforcement in India has intensified their pursuit of drug purchases received through international post in recent years; in particular focusing on the disruption of local “syndicates” that use the darknet and cryptocurrency to make online purchases of illegal substances. This also includes the investigation of “international cartels” with “linkages in several countries” to better understand how and when drugs are imported into the country. Also included in such investigations is the payment procedure used by domestic buyers.
“Since MDMA and other high-valued drugs are mainly procured from foreign destinations, particularly the Netherlands and other European countries, special emphasis was given to scrutiny of suspected patterns, transactions and parcels destined towards Mumbai.” – Narcotics Control Bureau, Mumbai
The duo at the receiving end of the parcel is said to be “well qualified and experts in darknet-related computing.” They were quickly arrested by authorities after the package under their name was intercepted, soon thereafter confessing to their involvement in drug trafficking. The story was covered by a large number of media outlets across India, likely in an attempt to dissuade would-be drug importers.