A Taiwanese National is confronted with several lifelong sentences after he has been arrested on suspicion of owning and running one of the most successful drug market in the Dark Web.
Rui-Shang Lin (aka Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah and Faro) was arrested on Saturday at JFK Airport in New York. The 23-year-old is accused of exploiting the Incognito market, which has apparently sold an estimated $ 100 million illegal drugs and misunderstood recipe medication to customers around the world since its foundation in 2020.
The site itself borrowed heavily from legitimate e-commerce stores, in terms of branding, advertisements and customer service, according to the Ministry of Justice (DOJ).
Once registered with the site, drug dealers reportedly paid 5% of the purchase price of medicines sold, which was used to finance hosting, salaries of employees and other operational costs.
The site has also run its own bank, the Doj said. Users would deposit cryptocurrency on their own mentioned accounts and the site would record purchase amounts minus the transaction costs of 5% and transfer to the seller accounts, so that both parties can remain anonymous.
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Lin is accused of having made millions of such transactions and to keep a close eye on the operations at all times.
In addition to hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, drug dealers also used the site to pass on potentially deadly fentanyl pills as prescribed medication oxycodone, the doj claimed.
“As claimed, the Brazen Operation of Rui-Shang Lin resulted in the illegal sale of more than $ 100 million in drugs, including those who have been incorrectly labeled and later include deadly fentanyl,” said special agent special agent, Ivan Arvelo of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) new York.
“The greed and contempt of the suspect for others was further demonstrated by his alleged extortion attempt during the last days of the platform. The Darweb and Cryptocurrency Task Force of the El Dorado Task Force uses advanced techniques to target the most smart criminals of the internet.”
Two -life loads
Lin is now confronted with mandatory minimum penalties of life in prison for entering into a continuous conspiracy of criminal companies and drugs. He is confronted with a further maximum fine of 20 years in prison for money laundering, and a maximum fine of five years for conspiracy to sell forged and misunderstood medication.
The arrest follows success for the German police in dismantling Crimemarket – one of the most popular underground markets in the country for drugs, weapons and illegal services such as money laundering and cyber crime.
According to chains salysis, managers and sellers on Dark Web Marketplaces had a better 2023 than the previous year, making an estimated $ 1.7 billion on cryptocurrency -based income.