{"id":20936,"date":"2024-05-21T10:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T07:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinengineer.io\/?p=20936"},"modified":"2024-05-21T09:14:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T06:14:23","slug":"alleged-dark-web-drug-market-operator-arrested-because-of-crypto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/alleged-dark-web-drug-market-operator-arrested-because-of-crypto\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged Dark Web Drug Market Operator Arrested Because of Crypto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A significant breakthrough in the fight against online drug trafficking has been announced by the FBI. <strong>Rui-Siang Lin, a 23-year-old man,<\/strong> was arrested at New York&#8217;s John F. Kennedy Airport on May 18. Lin, also known by his online alias <strong>&#8220;Pharoah,&#8221;<\/strong> is accused of owning and operating the notorious dark web marketplace, Incognito Market. The Manhattan United States Attorney&#8217;s Office stated that Lin appeared in federal court on May 20.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_71 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/alleged-dark-web-drug-market-operator-arrested-because-of-crypto\/#Crypto_Transfers_Unveil_Lins_Identity\" title=\"Crypto Transfers Unveil Lin&#8217;s Identity\">Crypto Transfers Unveil Lin&#8217;s Identity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/alleged-dark-web-drug-market-operator-arrested-because-of-crypto\/#Legal_Consequences_and_Forfeitures\" title=\"Legal Consequences and Forfeitures\">Legal Consequences and Forfeitures<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Crypto_Transfers_Unveil_Lins_Identity\"><\/span>Crypto Transfers Unveil Lin&#8217;s Identity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The FBI&#8217;s investigation revealed Lin&#8217;s alleged involvement in the Incognito Market<strong> by tracing cryptocurrency transactions from the dark web to a crypto exchange account in his name.<\/strong> FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith commented, <strong>&#8220;For nearly four years, Rui-Siang Lin allegedly operated \u2018Incognito Market,\u2019<\/strong> one of the largest online platforms for narcotics sales, conducting <strong>$100 million<\/strong> in illicit narcotics transactions and reaping millions of dollars in personal profits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Incognito Market functioned as an onion-based e-commerce platform, accessible via the Tor web browser. It facilitated the sale of various drugs, including cocaine, LSD, MDMA, and prescription amphetamines like Adderall, using Bitcoin and Monero for payments. The platform also imposed a 5% fee on transactions and offered an escrow service.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Legal_Consequences_and_Forfeitures\"><\/span>Legal Consequences and Forfeitures<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>The Department of Justice (DOJ)<\/strong> noted that Incognito Market closed in March this year, coinciding with an exit scam that allegedly stole millions of dollars in customer cryptocurrency. Lin faces several serious charges, including engaging in a criminal enterprise, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to sell misbranded medication, and money laundering. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence for the criminal enterprise charge, with the narcotics conspiracy charge also carrying a maximum life sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI&#8217;s tracking efforts showed that funds from Incognito Market were sent to a crypto wallet controlled by Lin. From there, the funds were moved to an exchange account in his name. FBI task force officer Mark Rubens detailed at least four transfers where Incognito Market-derived Bitcoin was swapped for Monero, then deposited into Lin\u2019s crypto exchange account. The exchange provided the FBI with Lin&#8217;s Taiwanese driver&#8217;s license, email address, and phone number, further solidifying the evidence against him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The DOJ<\/strong> has issued a forfeiture for cryptocurrency held in Lin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/binance-marks-third-anniversary-with-key-principles\/\">Binance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/coinengineer.net\/blog\/coinbase-vs-kraken-unveiling-the-contrasts-and-parallels\/\">Kraken<\/a> accounts. The deposits to Lin&#8217;s crypto exchange accounts significantly grew with the market&#8217;s success, from around $63,000 in 2021 to nearly $4.2 million in 2023, with a second exchange account seeing <strong>$4.5 million deposited between July and November of the previous year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The arrest of Rui-Siang Lin marks a significant victory for law enforcement against dark web drug markets. The meticulous tracking of cryptocurrency transactions played a crucial role in uncovering Lin&#8217;s identity and his alleged operations of the Incognito Market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A significant breakthrough in the fight against online drug trafficking has been announced by the FBI. Rui-Siang Lin, a 23-year-old man, was arrested at New York&#8217;s John F. Kennedy Airport on May 18. Lin, also known by his online alias &#8220;Pharoah,&#8221; is accused of owning and operating the notorious dark web marketplace, Incognito Market. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4844,5471],"class_list":["post-20936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto-news","tag-crypto-transactions","tag-dark-web"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alleged Dark Web Drug Market Operator Arrested Because of Crypto - Coin Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"FBI arrests Rui-Siang Lin, alias &quot;Pharoah,&quot; for running Incognito Market, a $100M dark web drug platform. Crypto tracing exposed his identity. 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