ED arrests man from Nainital, seizes Bitcoins worth ₹130 crore linked to drugs trafficking in US requested probe
NEW DELHI : The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has seized cryptocurrency worth more than ₹130 crore and arrested a Uttarakhand-based man as part of a drugs trafficking-linked money laundering probe initiated on the request of US authorities. Parvinder Singh was taken into custody on April 27 from Haldwani in the state's Nainital district following a search of his premises. In a statement, the central probe agency said that the accused agreed to "surrender" the proceeds earned through the sale of illegal drugs through the dark web.
Most of the sales were made in European countries, it added. Investigation was initiated on the basis of a mutual legal assistance request received from US authorities invoking the "unique" section 2(ra) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, it said. The section pertains to offence of cross-border implications, with the schedule offences corresponding to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said.
Parvinder Singh and his brother Banmeet Singh along with some others were operating an international drug trafficking group called "Singh DTO", it alleged. DTO, the agency said, stands for "drug trafficking organisation". They used vendor marketing sites on the dark web, numerous free advertisements on clear web and a network of narcotics and controlled-substance distributors to sell drugs in the US and the UK and other European countries, the ED said.
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