Alipore: The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested on Sunday three men, including a DJ, on the charge of possessing and peddling banned drugs.

Officers said Vivek Sharma, 29, his cousin Rishabh Sharma, 32, and Deep Chakraborty, 25, the DJ, were involved in supplying party drugs to popular nightspots in the city and educational institutions.

At least 11 strips of Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin mushroom), a hallucinogenic drug, were seized from Vivek's New Alipore house, said Dilip Srivastava, the director of the Calcutta zone of the bureau.

"These mushrooms can be consumed after making tea out of them or can even be had with chocolate sauce to mask their bitter taste. The effects range from hallucinations to euphoria and last more than six hours," he said.

Also seized were 20 LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) blotting papers, nine Ecstasy pills, 13.5g of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in crystalline form and several tablets of Strawberry Quick, a flavoured drug that contains MDMA.

A trap had been set for the trio after DJ Nikhil, who had been arrested in December for allegedly dealing in charas, apparently told officers about them.

Officers contacted Vivek posing as buyers and were told to turn up at an intersection near the New Alipore petrol pump.

"Vivek had brought a piece of alum and tried to pass it off as MDMA," an officer said. "He broke down during interrogation and led us to his cousin and Deep. The gang would only sell drugs to those they or their friends knew. Their clients included party-hoppers and students."

Another officer said the Magic Mushrooms had been sourced from the Netherlands.

"They used to purchase the drugs using the dark web and payment was made in crypto currencies, including Bitcoins," said Srivasatava.

The trio have told the officers they had purchased the Magic Mushrooms for Rs 1,100 a strip and sold them for Rs 3,500 a strip.

The three have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.