The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized cryptocurrency worth over Rs 130 crore and arrested a Uttarakhand-based man in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to drug trafficking, initiated at the request of US authorities. The accused, Parvinder Singh, was arrested on April 27 from Haldwani in Nainital district after a search of his premises.
The ED stated that Singh agreed to surrender the proceeds earned through the sale of illegal drugs through the dark web, with most sales made in European countries. The investigation was initiated based on a mutual legal assistance request received from US authorities invoking Section 2(ra) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which pertains to cross-border implications related to offenses under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Singh and his brother Banmeet Singh, along with others, allegedly operated an international drug trafficking group called “Singh DTO” (drug trafficking organization), using vendor marketing sites on the dark web, free clear web advertisements, and a network of narcotics distributors to sell drugs in the US, UK, and other European countries.
The “Singh organization” received drug trafficking proceeds through sales on dark web markets and laundered them through cryptocurrency transactions. Bitcoins with an equivalent value of Rs 130.48 crore were seized during the search operation.
The ED revealed that the brothers used the moniker “Liston” on dark web markets like “Silk Road 1”, “Alpha Bay”, and “Hansa”. Bitcoins associated with the “Liston” moniker were identified as proceeds of crime obtained through the illegal sale of drugs, with US authorities having already seized Bitcoins valued at thousands of crores of rupees.
