Dark web breeds new drug cartels

As India intensifies its campaign against narcotics, enforcement agencies are confronting a new and rapidly evolving threat -- drug trafficking networks operating through the dark web and cryptocurrencies. Officials say the narcotics trade is increasingly shifting away from conventional smuggling routes, making investigations more complex and hampering efforts to trace financial transactions.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that it is no longer the routes used by narcotic cartels that pose the challenge. The trade has largely shifted to the dark web, and this poses a major challenge. Further, the transactions are fuelled by cryptocurrency, and this has aided the smugglers in concealing their networks behind digital wallets.

The official said that tracing the financial trail is very crucial in a drug smuggling operation. The conventional land, air and sea routes no longer pose a major challenge. These are the conventional methods that have been used for years by drug smugglers.

The cryptocurrency transactions being made by drug lords are what the agencies are finding hard to track. Another official said that the drug smugglers have roped in various dark web groups to help further their business. These groups operate through encrypted browsers and dedicated systems. It takes a lot to track such an operation, and going forward this would pose a major challenge for Indian agencies, the official also said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), India’s premier anti-drug agency, had between 2020 and 2024 booked 92 cases involving the dark net and cryptocurrencies. The NCB has found that the drug trade is increasingly shifting to this method and has led the agency to enhance technology and surveillance online, an official said.

Earlier this year, the NCB had busted a dark net-enabled pan-India drug distribution network. During the probe, it was found that this cartel known as Team Kalki would source high-grade LSD and MDMA from Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

It then adopted a drop-dead technique by which the drugs would be left at a pre-determined hidden location for trusted customers. Using speed post and various couriers, the cartel managed more than 1,000 orders across the country. To conceal the money trail, it routed the funds through intermediary mule wallets.

Officials say that while the dark net remains the biggest challenge, a new trend where smaller cartels operating without the backing of the bigger cartels is emerging. The dark web has helped individuals with ample technical expertise to run a drug operation.

The official explained that the emergence of these smaller and unknown players has made the battle against drugs even more challenging. The Indian narcotics markets are largely being controlled either by the Dawood Ibrahim Syndicate or the drug lords operating out of the Golden Triangle. The D-Syndicate operates more in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and the other northern parts of the country.

It does have southern operations based in Tamil Nadu, and these narcotics are meant for some southern states and Sri Lanka. The Golden Triangle cartels focus on the northeast and also Sri Lanka through the Southern states. The drugs that land in Sri Lanka are meant for local markets, while the remaining are smuggled into Thailand.

Officials say that handling these cartels is relatively easier. They often use conventional methods and smuggle drugs using land, sea, or air routes. However, it is these unknown players who form cartels with just one or two persons is what poses the challenge.

There is no file on them, and they are largely incognito. Two to three persons with ample technical knowledge of the dark web get together and start a cartel. They are also not associated with any major syndicate, and this makes finding their trail harder, the official said.

An official said that the newer technologies do pose a challenge, with unknown and smaller cartels coming up. However, this does not mean that bigger syndicates would look to completely stop using the conventional methods. They would try to maximise their business and hence would use all possible methods available at their disposal, the official said.