NCB nabs Salem gold trader running pan-India LSD cartel

CHENNAI: His legitimate business is that of a gold merchant in Salem. In the dark web, however, the businessman earned his reputation and much more money by being one of the major suppliers of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), popularly referred to as ‘acid’.

Unperturbed by the 18-month stint in Karnataka prison for the same crime after being arrested by the Bengaluru city police in 2021, C Balaji (50) resumed his trade again through the dark web last November under the vendor name, “harekrishna4u” - only to be busted again, this time by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Chennai zonal unit.

Besides Balaji, the kingpin, 14 others from across the country were arrested in the coordinated operation by the NCB sleuths, resulting in the seizure of 4,343 blots of LSD stamps. To put in context the drug’s potency and hence the magnitude of the seizure, possessing 0.1 grams of LSD is considered equivalent to keeping 20 kg of ganja, according to the NCB.

The NCB said this is the highest seizure of LSD in Tamil Nadu in terms of quantity. “After procuring the LSD in bulk from Germany, Balaji shipped it to his contacts throughout the country via India Post,” said NCB zonal director P Aravindhan. Sources said Balaji used cryptocurrency to buy the drug and hid the LSD stamps in photo frames and books while sending them using the postal service.

The sleuths also arrested peddlers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kochi and Surat. “They include engineers, consultants, software professionals, marketing managers and an assistant director in Bollywood, all in the age group of 20-25 years,” said an official release.

A senior officer told DT Next that while monitoring the dark web, they came to know that one of the major LSD suppliers was from Tamil Nadu and eventually traced the man behind “harekrishna4U”.

In January 2021, the Bengaluru police had arrested Balaji in connection with the seizure of 9,310 LSD strips from a businessman.

“He is one of the major players in the country. Though he was arrested in a case involving a commercial seizure, he managed to get bail in 18 months and resumed the trade again,” the official said.