Drug & Firearms Syndicate: Dark Web, Social Media, Code Words Used

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Unearthed by crime branch on July 23, the high-tech drug and illegal arms syndicate run by notorious peddler DJ Yasin alias Machhli, extensively relied on the dark web, social media and coded communication to operate.

According to crime branch officials, Yasin and his gang maintained contact with drug smugglers in Rajasthan and Delhi- based Nigerian gang through the dark web, placing orders of MD drugs.

To smuggle consignments after placing order, they booked train reservations in AC coaches and even packed drugs in multiple protective layers to bypass security checks.

In several cases, women were used as carriers to avoid police suspicion. Alternate and interior road routes were also used, with consignments moving in private vehicles to avoid police check posts.

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The syndicate’s strength, however, lay in its digital network. Clients were contacted through Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and even emails. To disguise conversations, the gang avoided the word, drugs, and instead used the code word, stuff, a tactic meant to throw off surveillance and confuse police even if their conversation was identified and traced.

Police investigations revealed that Yasin’s network supplied drugs, MD drugs to high-profile clients, pubs and clubs in the city. Yasin and his uncle Shahwar also organised late night dance parties where drugs were sold for Rs 10,000 to Rs 30, 000 depending on demand of the clients.

Moreover, the syndicate also trapped young girls and women by offering them free drugs. Once addicted, many were sexually exploited and pressured to bring in other women in exchange for continued drug supply.

Additional DCP (crime) Shailendra Singh Chauhan said the crime branch arrested 14 members of Yasin’s gang and seized narcotics and illegal firearms. He said accused revealed vital leads and further arrests were likely as the investigation would widen.