NCB busts ‘Ketamelon’ darknet drug syndicate, 2 held in raids
Officials said they have recovered 1,127 LSD blots, 131.66 grams of ketamine contraband, and digital assets worth around ₹70 lakh.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted India’s most-prolific drugs syndicate being operated on darknet under the name of “Ketamelon”, and arrested two accused, including a Kochi resident who was running the network on dark web, officials said on Tuesday.
Though the agency did not divulge the identity of the two accused citing ongoing raids across different states, officials said they have recovered 1,127 LSD blots, 131.66 grams of ketamine contraband, and digital assets worth around ₹70 lakh.
Ketamelon, according to NCB officials, was the country’s only Level-4 darknet vendor—a top-tier status in India—operating actively over the past two years on the darknet.
“The name derives from the vendor’s (arrested accused) early involvement in Ketamine smuggling. Drugs were primarily sourced from a UK-based vendor Gunga Din, a known reshipper of the globally infamous Dr Seuss (also known as DS or Tribe Seuss), believed to be the largest LSD source in the world,” Neeraj Gupta, deputy director general of NCB, said.
The LSD blots (a small piece of absorbent paper impregnated with lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD) seized by NCB sleuths bore the imprint Gunga Din and Rudyard Kipling. Gunga Din is a famous 1890 poem by Kipling. In recent years, NCB officials have observed that each consignment of LSD — a psychedelic drug — bears the imprint (name or symbol) of the main supplier.
In the present case, Gupta said that once the orders were received on darknet, the LSD blots were sent to buyers through couriers. Probe so far has revealed that the accused had sold the LSD blots to buyers in Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhopal, Patna, Delhi, as well as regions in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
“Over the last 14 months, 600 shipments were delivered. The estimated street value of the seized drugs is approximately ₹35.12 lakh, with LSD blots priced at ₹2,500- ₹4,000 each,” the officer added.
The federal agency said that following a specific intelligence, its officials from the Cochin zone on June 28 intercepted three postal parcels in Kochi, carrying 280 LSD blots. The probe revealed the identity of the Ketamelon darknet operator, whose house was raided the following day, during which NCB officials found 847 more LSD blots and 131.66 grams of Ketamine, the agency added.
LSD — also commonly known as acid, blots, and stamps — is a potent hallucinogenic drug, without any colour, taste or smell. It is painted or dipped into stamps and licked or swallowed by users.
In 2023, NCB busted the then biggest darknet-based LSD cartel named “Zambada”, and seized 29,013 blots, 472 grams of MDMA and ₹51.38 lakh in cash and arrested 14 people in different operations.
