Mumbai: MBA ‘drug peddler’ held, used darknet to get narcotics | Mumbai News

He allegedly used his employees’ KYC details to order drugs from the darknet and maintained anonymity by using disposable addresses in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for deliveries.

MUMBAI: A 37-year-old MBA degree holder who allegedly ordered drugs from the darknet through courier using the KYC (‘Know tyour customer’) details of his employees has been arrested along with 309 grams of mephedrone worth Rs 60 lakh on Wednesday, officials said.
The officials of the crime branch said that they had received intelligence that the accused, Hrushikesh Chandrashekhar Rumade, had been indulging in drug peddling, but he was never caught.
Based on specific information, the Unit 9 team of crime branch led by inspector Daya Nayak and Sachin Puranik kept surveillance on his activities. Rumade is an MBA graduate and a resident of the upmarket Khar area.
On Wednesday, when he accepted a parcel containing narcotics opposite Rajendra Sinha Chowky, a police team detained him. Checking his person resulted in the recovery of 309 grams of MD.
Initially, he denied it was drugs, but when checked with the help of the field test kit, it tested positive for drugs. He was placed under arrest, and during the interrogation, he admitted to indulging in drug-peddling, the police claimed.
During his interrogation and technical analysis, he revealed a sophisticated system of ordering drugs through the dark web, leveraging his knowledge and technical expertise. Rumade used the TOR browser to access the dark web and ordered MD online. He used the KYC information of his employees in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to provide random delivery addresses. Most of these addresses were in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. He later sent people from Mumbai to collect these parcels, maintaining his anonymity.
“The drugs were then sold in retail markets across Mumbai. Hrushikesh confessed to placing approximately 15-18 orders through the dark web, uninstalling the TOR browser after each transaction to erase digital footprints,” a police officer said, adding: “This arrest underscores the growing issue of educated individuals exploiting their skills for illegal activities and the rise of dark web-facilitated crimes in the city.”