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India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar, better known as the ”Crypto King”, on suspicion of purchasing drugs from the Darknet using bitcoin. Apart from Indian peddlers, the criminal also bought narcotics from European ones.
LSD for BTC
The NCB announced that it arrested a suspect who allegedly exchanged bitcoin for LSD. He was later identified as Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar, a.k.a. the ”Crypto King”. The criminal operated on the notorious Darknet, where numerous outlaws trade illegal substances like drugs and weapons:
”His modus operandi was to receive cash, and provide bitcoins on marginal profits by using his wallet that was used to purchase drugs from the Darknet.”
The investigation revealed that it found 20 LSD blots in Kharodi Village, Malad. The Director of the Mumbai Unit of NCB – Sameer Wankhede – informed that the ”Crypto King” has connections with European drug dealers as he bought the narcotics from Europe:
”In November 2020, a team of NCB Mumai had seized 20 LSD blots from Kharodi Village in Malad. The seized psychotropic substance was purchased from Europe by using bitcoin.”
The NCB will conduct a further investigation on the case. As of the moment, it remains unclear what punishment Adivirkar will face.
The Dark Side of Crypto
Recently, another suspect was arrested for processing $25 million worth of BTC illegally. Kais Mohammad – a resident of the luxurious part of Los Angeles Orange County – will spend the next 24 months in federal prison for operating an illegal BTC ATM service.
The criminal, also known as ”Superman29” pleaded guilty to the charges of operating unauthorized money transmitting business, money laundering, and so forth.
Mohammad was the leader of the illegal digital currency money services business – Herocoin – from December 2014 to November 2019. During this period, he offered Bitcoin-to-cash exchange services, charging fees of up to 25 percent – significantly above the usual market rate.
Interestingly, most of his clients were criminals and he never cared about the source of their funds. The US authorities even put into action undercover agents, who reached out to the outlaw for his services. They told him that their money comes from prostitution, human trafficking, and dark web activities, but Mohammad still did business with them and exchanged the cryptocurrency.
In addition to the two years that he has to spend behind bars, ”Superman 29” also agreed to give over 17 BTC ATMs, 18.5 BTC, 222.5 ETH, and $22,820 in cash to the authorities.
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