ED raids with US officials in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, connection with international drug smuggling – 2024-04-29 04:35:19

2024-04-29 04:35:19
New Delhi: At present, there is one agency which is being discussed the most, its name is – ED i.e. Enforcement Directorate. After tightening the noose on high profile people like Hemant Soren and CM Kejriwal, it has come under further attack from the opposition. It is said to be a puppet of Modi government. Once again ED’s name is in the headlines, but for a different reason. ED along with US officials has conducted raids in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. Your question would be why did ED need American officials? Actually, ED has come to know that two Indians have links with international drug smuggling gang. For this, ED has taken the help of American officials. The ED had registered the case under relevant provisions of the Money Laundering Act in August last year, people close to the case told ET. After that the US officials contacted the investigating agency and shared information about two Indians allegedly involved in the drug racket.

Connection of drugs and cryptocurrency
US officials were investigating the alleged involvement of Parvinder Singh and Banmeet Singh, residents of Haldwani. The investigation focuses on his alleged involvement in the operations of an international drug trafficking group known as ‘The Singh Organisation’, people familiar with the matter said. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the group used vendor marketing sites on the dark web as well as a number of free advertisements on the clear web to facilitate the sale of drugs. Additionally, he had established a network of distributors and distribution cells of narcotics and controlled substances. Their transactions mainly involved taking payments in the form of cryptocurrency in exchange for drugs, which were then laundered through cryptocurrency wallets. Investigation by US authorities revealed that both Banmeet and Parvinder had used similar aliases on several dark web markets like ‘Silk Road 1, AlphaBay and Hansa’.

America has sentenced Banmeet to 8 years imprisonment
Just a month after Banmeet’s arrest in the UK in June 2019, cryptocurrency funds obtained through the illicit sale of narcotics were transferred using Peel Chain technology. This was revealed in the American investigation. These funds were redirected to addresses associated with the Wasabi wallet. It is a virtual currency mixing service designed to obfuscate the flow of funds on the blockchain. Subsequently, Banmeet is scheduled to visit the U.S. in 2023. Extradited in. He was tried in the U.S. for crimes of selling illegal drugs. He was convicted for eight years in the case. Another thing to note is that the ED has initiated the investigation on the basis of the existing FIR lodged by another prosecuting agency. However, in this case, the ED has registered a case under PMLA, invoking a unique provision based on information shared by the US authorities. ED conducted a search operation at Parvinder’s residence in Haldwani. This came after the US sought information about electronic devices such as computers, tablets or smartphones used by them to commit the alleged crimes.