Dark Web Drug Trafficking with Bitcoin
ORIGINAL CASE DETAILS
A seven-count indictment recently released by federal prosecutors allege two people were engaging in the illegal sale of opioids on the dark web in a form of online drug trafficking . The indictment alleges that the one of the co-conspirators would illegally purchase drugs such as OxyContin and morphine pills from the other co-conspirator who was a pharmacist in Costa Rica. The buyer would then list and sell narcotics on various markets on the dark web including Silk Road and AlphaBay and would be paid using bitcoin cryptocurrency. It was alleged that bulk shipments of these illegal narcotics would make their way to the United States hidden in tourist souvenirs such as maracas. The narcotics would then be removed from the maracas for example and would be repackaged and sent directly to the consumer via mail. It is alleged that the reseller of the opioid pills was paid nearly 24,000 Bitcoin during his time selling on the dark web. 24,000 Bitcoin currently equates to over $270 million. Both the pharmacist and reseller of the opioid pills were recently indicted by a federal grand jury resulting in federal charges for conspiring to distribute controlled substances, distributing controlled substances, conspiring to import controlled substances, conspiring to launder money, and money laundering.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO STOP DARK WEB DRUG TRAFFICKING
The federal government has strengthened their commitment and intensified their efforts towards curbing dark web drug trafficking. Investigators have been joined by blockchain analytics companies like Chainalysis and Elliptic who have offered to help law enforcement uncover illegal drug trafficking online. While Bitcoin appears to be totally anonymous, the transactions using Bitcoin are publicly available and can be linked to people in various ways. The FBI created the Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement Team, or J-CODE back in 2018 and have continued to grow their efforts by working with police authorities all over the world in an effort to stop illegal dark web drug trafficking at both ends. This case was actually investigated by the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit, which is a division of the IRS that looks to investigate and uncover acts that are associated with money laundering and tax evasion. To put it plainly, dark web drug trafficking is in the crosshairs of the federal government in a number of ways. Federal authorities will continue to pursue the war on drugs whether it is in person or online as they play a seemingly never-ending game of cat and mouse.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME?
If you have visited the dark web in order to look at or purchase illegal narcotics, then this can affect you directly. Even if you are not the distributor of the drugs, you can still be charged for buying or possessing illegal drugs as an end user. Even though federal authorities like to go after the main distributor or “big fish” when they investigate and pursue drug trafficking cases, they will still pursue buyers or anyone else potentially involved in order to move up the food chain. It is not uncommon to see a number of lower-level offenders be charged in an effort to gain information as who federal authorities believe is at the top levels of the alleged operation. Buying drugs online can cause you even more legal trouble than buying them on the street. If you are facing a federal drug trafficking charge, or are being investigated for one, then it is imperative that you speak to an experienced federal drug trafficking defense attorney as soon as possible.
