Police said on November 8, they received a tipoff about a Delhi resident who had imported marijuana and was selling it in the city. Around 11.15am that day, police searched a house in Shalimar Bagh and arrested the three men from there.
Three men, who used the darknet to import marijuana from Canada and sell it for huge profits in Delhi, have been arrested by the Delhi Police’s crime branch. Police said they recovered 1,873 grams of fine quality Canadian marijuana from the three men, adding that unlike the marijuana grown in India, imported marijuana is costlier.
The darknet or dark web is a network within the internet which is not accessible through search engines. Over the past few years, criminals are increasingly using the darknet to smuggle drugs and weapons, police said.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar pegged the value of the seized contraband at ₹35 lakh. “The consignment was ordered on the darknet and payment was made in bitcoins. The selling price of the seized consignment is approximately ₹40,000-50,000 per ounce (28 grams), depending upon the paying capacity of the buyer. In the USA, it goes for about $600 per ounce,” Kumar said.
According to confessional statements of people arrested for dealing in marijuana in the past few years, about one gram of marijuana grown in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh costs ₹10, or ₹280 for 28 grams. The price per gram of marijuana bought from Himachal Pradesh is more. The rate also depends on where it is sold in Delhi. For example, marijuana in south and New Delhi areas would be costlier than in outer or north Delhi, police said.
