THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state police have identified 25 people, mostly Keralites, who are engaged in drug trafficking through dark web.
The cyber division and the technical intelligence wing had launched the drive to identify the drug traffickers operating via dark web — an encrypted portion of the internet that cannot be indexed by search engines and require special software and tools to access it — after detecting a surge in such illegal transactions in the cyber space.
The police had found that drug traffickers were actively scouting for buyers on dark web sites.
Sources said cyber sleuths found that the dark web drug traffickers operated not just from Kerala but from various South Indian cities, including Bengaluru, as well. “Most of the men identified were found to be IT professionals or tech-savvy youths, from affluent backgrounds,” said a highly-placed source.
On the basis of the dark web patrolling, the police have so far arrested some of the 25 identified traffickers.
‘Majority of those identified transacted via bank accounts’
In cases where the traffickers are stationed outside the state, the details have already been shared with the respective state police units for further action, said sources.
“Compared to the old-fashioned ways of peddling, which is risky as the anonymity of traffickers can easily be blown off, the dark web sale is considered safer. There are no physical interactions between the buyers and the sellers, and hence, it’s difficult to identify the traffickers.
In the dark web, both sellers and buyers post information about availability and requirement of drugs. Once the deal is fixed and money transferred, the contraband is delivered at the doorsteps via courier,” the source said.
All but one of the 25 drug traffickers identified transacted through their bank accounts. In one case, a crypto currency was used. “ A majority of them seem to have lowered their guard a bit to lure new customers and took the cash through payment apps,” the source said.
The traffickers, the source said, could have sourced the drugs from abroad as well as from domestic rackets that store the contraband in large quantities. However, the identified online peddlers were found supplying only a moderate quantity of drugs to their customers, the source added.
“After analysing the online and offline trafficking, we have understood that large drug shipments are not coming to Kerala. It’s a portion of the consignment that’s stored somewhere else which makes its way to the state,” the source said.