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The Indian Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested a Mumbai resident known as the ‘King of Cryptos’ for allegedly using bitcoin to buy narcotics on the dark web. Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx said the accused was not one of its clients.
India’s ‘king of cryptography’ arrested
Mumbai resident Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar, also known as the “king of cryptos” in the country’s underground drug circuit, has been arrested by India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He allegedly used bitcoins to buy drugs on the dark web that were delivered to India from Europe.
Sameer Wankhede, director of NCB’s Mumbai unit, explained that “in November 2020, a team from NCB Mumbai seized 20 blots of LSD in Kharodi village in Malad,” local media reported. The director also reportedly said:
The seized mind-altering substance was purchased in Europe using bitcoin by a drug dealer in Mumbai.
“His modus operandi was to receive money and provide bitcoin on fringe profits using his wallet which was used to buy drugs on the darknet,” the NCB described.
Following reports that the crypto king may have used the Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx to facilitate his drug purchases, the exchange released a statement clarifying that he was not its user. Wazirx tweeted: “On June 11, 2021, Wazirx received an email from BCN inquiring about said defendant and his trading activity on Wazirx. After checking our files, we identified that the accused was not a Wazirx user, and we communicated the same to the authorities on June 12, 2021. “
The exchange continued: “That being said, we would like to reiterate that Wazirx follows global best practices in KYC and AML compliance and has a robust transaction monitoring system. We perform strict KYC verification of each user to verify their identity as well as secondary KYC verification through users’ linked bank accounts before allowing a customer to complete a transaction on Wazirx. The exchange highlighted:
We only allow KYC verified and whitelisted accounts to withdraw funds from our exchange.
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