🚨 India’s Biggest Darknet Drug Bust: Monero Used to Launder Crypto Profits

A 35-year-old Kerala engineer has been arrested in India’s largest darknet drug bust, accused of running a nationwide narcotics network while laundering profits through privacy coin Monero (XMR).

Key Details:

🔹 Operation MELON seized:

1,127 LSD blots

131g ketamine

$82K+ in crypto assets
🔹 Suspect operated as "Ketamelon" (India’s only Level 4 darknet vendor).
🔹 Shipped drugs to Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh.
🔹 Used Monero for untraceable transactions—preferred by darknet markets over Bitcoin.

Why Monero?

Privacy-focused: Masks sender/receiver details.

Darknet’s Choice: Chainalysis reports $2B+ in BTC still flows to darknet markets yearly, but Monero is rising.

Not Fully Anonymous: Experts warn "immutable ledgers leave traces"—criminal transactions can be tracked retroactively.

Global Crackdown on Crypto Crime

🌍 US sanctions Russian hosting firms linked to darknet markets.
🌍 Monero price surged 51% in April after hackers laundered $333M in BTC via XMR swaps.

⚠️ Lesson for Crypto Users:

Privacy coins ≠ 100% anonymous.

Authorities are improving tracking tools.

Legit crypto use remains safe—but darknet dealings are high-risk!

#Darknet #Monero #CryptoCrime #India #PrivacyCoins

(Source: Decrypt, NCB, Chainalysis)