NCB arrests Mumbai's 'crypto king' who provided Bitcoins to purchase drugs on dark web

The probe revealed that Adivirkar received cash and facilitated the bitcoin deal at a small margin | Representative picture

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a Mumbai resident who used bitcoins to purchase narcotic drugs on the dark web. The accused, identified as Makarand P Adivirkar, is also known as 'crypto king.

"In November 2020, a team of NCB Mumbai had seized 20 LSD blots from Kharodi Village in Malad. The seized psychotropic substance was purchased from Europe by using bitcoin by a drug peddler from Mumbai," said Zonal Director of the Mumbai Unit of NCB, Sameer Wankhede, as quoted by Free Press Journal.

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He said that the accused was involved in providing bitcoin to effect the purchase of LSD in November 2020 from abroad. The probe revealed that Adivirkar received cash and facilitated the bitcoin deal at a small margin.

"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," NCB said.

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Bitcoins and other forms of cryptocurrency are often used on the dark web -- websites that are not indexed and therefore can not be accessed through regular search engines -- for illicit transactions.

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer network without the need for intermediaries.