Telangana: Drug peddlers hide in plain sight

Hyderabad: In February this year, a user named abaraxas123 posted a thread in Reddit, one of the largest social networking websites run on user-generated content. His post simply said: “check out my online shop on indiamart.com under the name abaraxas. Currently in stock -LSD. More to follow. Intro offers with full escrow.” 

The online shop mentioned in this post was not something normal. The original poster was introducing his new online venture in India for customers of metro cities like Hyderabad. 

Domestic drug peddlers like abaraxas successfully hid themselves at a less intricate e-marketplace where cops weren’t looking—IndiaMart. Unlike the complex Darknet, IndiaMart was not under the police scanner for drugs. 

But the recent drug busts by cops have revealed that peddlers managed to sell more LSD and MDMA domestically through IndiaMart than through Darknet. IndiaMart also often allows the customer to meet up through personal chats. Drug users in the Indian Reddit community hail IndiaMart as the safest place to look for drugs.

“The Nigerian drug peddlers caught in the city used to sell the drug through IndiaMart. Besides sending the drugs through courier, they also met with their customers directly to hand over the drugs,” said a senior police officer in the Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force.  

Besides MDMA, LSD and Ecstacy, drugs such as Adderall, which give a speedy high, codeine syrup, and liquid opiate popularly mixed with Sprite are also available. The designer drug named bath salts is also on the menu. It’s advertised on IndiaMart with a photo of ready-to-snort white lines next to a rolled-up dollar bill.  

Unsurprisingly, drug dealers on IndiaMart generally post fake numbers and fake business locations. Most prefer to communicate by email in the choppy syntax of a Nigerian 419 scammer. They also want cash up front before the drug is dispatched.  

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and police are having a tough time taking action against online sellers and marketplaces that sell prohibited drugs due to the ecommerce business structure. ‘Abaraxas123’ is now expanding his collection of drugs to compete with the foreign counterparts and monopolise the Indian drug market. He posted another thread in Reddit two weeks ago: “Ecstasy in store soon! Watch out for free samples.” 

Stolen goods and idols too openly sold on site
Not just drugs, other illegal goods including Panchaloha idols and stolen goods are sold openly in IndiaMart. Delivery can be chosen through ‘personal’ courier service, which makes it safer.

When a product is ordered, the local vendor often sends his own men to deliver the drugs to the customer to avoid any kind of detection. There are pharmaceutical drugs sold in IndiaMart without any kind of checks. If the sale of a product is high, the website does not ban the product being advertised in the website. No prescription is needed to buy medical drugs. On IndiaMart, you will find a designated policy against contraband, yet vendors are still active. 

“Indiamart.com is a platform that does not facilitate purchase of pharmaceutical products, in fact, it only advertises and/or showcased the pharmaceutical products posted by suppliers listed on the website. Buyers and suppliers assure to obey IndiaMART and hereby agree to abide by and be compliant of all the related laws, rules, regulations, notifications or orders issued by the Government of India or any of its Agencies from time to time,” the website policy states.