India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a Mumbai resident known as the “crypto-king” who allegedly used Bitcoin to buy opiates on the dark web. Indian digital money retailer Wazirx says the accused is not one of its customers
Indian Crypto Kingpin Arrested for Involvement in Illegal Activities
A Mumbai resident, Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar, also called “crypto lord,” has been arrested by India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He allegedly used Bitcoin to buy drugs on the internet that were being transported to India from Europe.
Sameer Wankhede, head of the NCB’s Mumbai Unit, clarified, “In November 2020, a group of NCB Mumbai had detained 20 LSD blots from Kharodi Village Malad,” revealed nearby media. The chief was additionally quoted as saying:
‘The psychotropic substance held was bought from Europe by a Mumbai-based drug vendor using Bitcoin.
His usual way of doing things was to get cash and give Bitcoins minor benefits by using his wallet, which was used to buy drugs from the darknet, the NCB depicted.
Following reports that the crypto-ruler may have used Indian digital currency trade Wazirx to work with his drug purchases, the business issued a statement explaining that he is not its customer. Wazirx tweeted, ” On June 11, 2021, Wazirx had received an email from NCB inquiring about the said accused and his exchange movement on Wazirx. After checking our records, we realized that the accused is not a Wazirx customer, and we informed the experts’ something very similar on June 12, 2021.
The trade was made: That being said, we must reiterate that Wazirx follows globally accepted procedures for KYC and AML compliance and has a rigorous exchange review framework in place. We conduct a rigorous KYC check on each client to confirm their lifestyle, as well as an additional KYC confirmation through the clients’ affiliated financial balances before allowing a client to trade on Wazirx: We only allow KYC confirmed and allowed records to pull assets from our trading.
Similar to this case, many people have accused bitcoin of being involved in illegal activities. Since there is no proof of transaction for cryptocurrency and people can make transactions anonymously, cryptocurrency has been implicated in trading illicit goods. However, authorities are working to make cryptocurrencies safer and more transparent. Several people called for cryptocurrency to be regulated to prevent this type of criminal activity. Compared to last year, there has been a decrease in illegal activities with cryptocurrencies, which shows that progress is being made in this area of digital currency.
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Luke Handt is a seasoned cryptocurrency investor and advisor with over 7 years of experience in the blockchain and digital asset space. His passion for crypto began while studying computer science and economics at Stanford University in the early 2010s.
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