Sentencing in Darknet Drug Trafficking and Marketplace Operations
US federal courts issued prison sentences tied to darknet-enabled drug trafficking. In Los Angeles, Davit Avalyan received a 57-month sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics as part of a multi-year operation that used numerous darknet vendor accounts/storefronts (e.g., JoyInc, PlanetHollywood, LaFarmacia) to sell cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and ketamine nationwide, taking payment in cryptocurrency including Bitcoin and Monero, and shipping parcels via USPS.
Separately, reporting on the Incognito darknet market case describes sentencing filings alleging that an FBI-controlled informant/asset helped administer the marketplace while opioid and fentanyl-tainted products were sold, including claims the informant ignored internal alerts and user complaints about suspected fentanyl-laced pills. A third item—about a Ukrainian national sentenced for facilitating North Korean remote IT worker infiltration using stolen identities and US-based “laptop farms”—is a different national-security/cyber-enabled fraud matter and not part of the darknet drug-market sentencing story.
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Incognito Market Operator Sentenced to 30 Years for Darknet Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
A U.S. federal court sentenced **Rui-Siang Lin** (24), a Taiwanese national accused of operating the dark web narcotics marketplace **Incognito Market**, to **30 years in prison** for conspiring to distribute narcotics, **money laundering**, and conspiring to sell **adulterated/misbranded medication**. Prosecutors said Lin ran the marketplace under the alias **“Pharaoh”** and oversaw more than **$105 million** in narcotics sales, including large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine and pills purported to be oxycodone, some allegedly **laced with fentanyl**; the sentence also included **five years of supervised release** and forfeiture of **more than $105 million**. Authorities described Incognito Market as a large-scale, “polished” online drug marketplace that supported cryptocurrency payments (including an internal payment mechanism described as **“Incognito Bank”**) and charged vendors a **5% commission**. Reporting cited platform scale estimates of roughly **1,800 vendors**, **400,000+ customer accounts**, and **~640,000 transactions**, with Lin exercising ultimate control over operations while living abroad (including in **St. Lucia**) and shutting the site down in **March 2024**; Lin was arrested in **May 2024** after arriving at **JFK Airport** en route to Singapore and pleaded guilty in **December 2024**. Investigators also obtained warrants (reported as in **2022** and **2023**) to access servers supporting marketplace operations, including transaction data, DDoS protection, and cryptocurrency processing.
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Law enforcement actions against darknet marketplaces and cybercrime forums
US and international law enforcement continued disrupting illicit online marketplaces and forums used to trade **ransomware services, malware, stolen data, and drugs**. The FBI seized the dark web and clear web domains for **RAMP**, a long-running, predominantly Russian-language cybercrime forum that marketed itself as the “only place ransomware allowed,” and which hosted vetted users, tutorials, and a marketplace for malware and criminal services; the seizure was coordinated with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Separately, US prosecutors announced guilty pleas tied to major darknet markets that also sold **cybercrime tools and stolen information** alongside narcotics. A Virginia man, **Raheim Hamilton** (aka `Sydney`/`ZeroAngel`), co-creator of **Empire Market**, pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges related to facilitating roughly **$430M** in transactions (2018–2020) and designing the market to evade law enforcement using cryptocurrency. A Slovakian national, **Alan Bill** (aka `Vend0r`/`KingdomOfficial`), pleaded guilty for helping operate **Kingdom Market** (2021–2023), which authorities previously seized in December 2023; investigators linked him to the operation after his arrest with devices and a crypto hardware wallet allegedly containing evidence tying him to the marketplace.
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US Law Enforcement Actions Targeting Crypto-Enabled Crime and Illicit Marketplaces
US authorities reported multiple enforcement actions tied to **crypto-enabled crime**. In the Empire Market case, prosecutors said co-creators **Raheim Hamilton** and **Thomas Pavey** designed the dark web marketplace to help users evade law enforcement and launder proceeds; the market allegedly facilitated about **$430M** in transactions (drugs, stolen payment data, counterfeit currency) before disappearing in 2020 in what investigators described as an exit scam that stole an estimated **$30M** in bitcoin. Hamilton pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges and agreed to forfeit roughly **1,230 BTC** plus **24.4 ETH** and real estate; Pavey previously pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit about **1,584 BTC** and other assets. Separately, reporting highlighted alleged misuse and laundering of digital assets in other contexts. On-chain investigator **ZachXBT** traced movements from wallets associated with **US-seized crypto** (held under U.S. Marshals Service custodianship) to wallets allegedly linked to **John Daghita**, the son of a federal contractor executive, with claims of roughly **$23M** in diverted cryptocurrency and another wallet holding about **$36M** in Ethereum; ZachXBT said he alerted the **U.S. Marshals Service**. In another DOJ case, **Jingliang Su** (a Chinese national) was sentenced to **46 months** for laundering proceeds from a cryptocurrency investment fraud that authorities said victimized **174** people for **$36.9M**, using social engineering via social media/dating platforms and counterfeit trading sites, with **$26.9M** restitution ordered and multiple US agencies involved in tracing funds and dismantling the network.
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