AFRICAN BLACKS SENTENCED: Men used bitcoin and the darknet to hide sales of illegal fentanyl-laced opioids, feds say

[Arheel's Uncle]

Men used bitcoin and the darknet to hide sales of illegal fentanyl-laced opioids, feds say

Selling drugs on the darknet for bitcoin payments land Olatunji Dawodu and Luis Miguel Teixeira-Spencer in jail, federal authorities said.

www.sun-sentinel.com

Men used bitcoin and the darknet to hide sales of illegal fentanyl-laced opioids, feds say​

By Wayne K. Roustan
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
•
Feb 25, 2021 at 3:04 pm


WEST PARK — FBI agents, U.S. Marshals and U.S. postal inspectors raided a home in West Park Tuesday and arrested two men on federal drug charges involving a sophisticated scheme to sell illegal drugs through cyberspace, feds say.
Luis Miguel Teixeira-Spencer, 31, and Olatunji Dawodu, 36, were taken into custody at around 10 a.m. without incident. Authorities confiscated items from the residence as part of their investigation into illegal drug sales on the darknet in exchange for payment in bitcoin cryptocurrency, federal authorities said.
Spencer and Dawodu conspired with others, not named in the indictment, to sell more than 400 grams of pills containing traces of fentanyl, a prescription-only, pharmaceutical-grade opioid painkiller 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the CDC.
To conceal their illegal drug sales, Spencer and Dawodu took payments in bitcoin cryptocurrency through darknet markets since February 2017, court records stated.
According to a federal grand jury indictment, Spencer set up accounts on the darknet, an online black market frequently used for anonymous criminal activity such as selling illegal drugs.
Using variations of the alias johncarter7, Spencer advertised oxycodone M30 pills for sale with “pressed with just the right amount of fentanyl,” according to the indictment.

Olatunji Dawodu (left), 36, and Luis Miguel Tiexiera-Spencer, 31, are accused of selling illegal drugs on the darknet in exchange for bitcoin payments, federal authorities said. (Broward Sheriff's Office)
The pills were shipped by USPS priority mail across the U.S. from Florida and Rhode Island.

Undercover detectives messaged johncarter7 in April 2019 and placed orders for the opioids. The payments for the drugs were made in bitcoin and transferred to a binance account — a cryptocurrency wallet — registered to Spencer. From there, investigators said they were able to get Spencer’s address, email and phone number.

Inspectors also intercepted some of the pill packages that Dawodu allegedly mailed to customers.

Spencer and Dawodu used a public storage unit in Davie to facilitate their illegal business activities, investigators said.

Spencer and Dawodu are facing charges of conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, records show. They were ordered held without bond in the Broward County Jail.

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

Three Individuals Sentenced in Darknet Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracy Involving Distribution of Pills Pressed with Fentanyl

www.justice.gov

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Three Individuals Sentenced in Darknet Narcotics Trafficking Conspiracy Involving Distribution of Pills Pressed with Fentanyl​

The Conspiracy Involved Multiple Kilograms of Pills Purchased with Bitcoin​

WASHINGTON – The last of three defendants was sentenced Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for illegal sales of opioids on various Darknet markets. The Honorable John D. Bates sentenced Alex Ogando to 12 years. Olatunji Dawodu and Luis Spencer were previously sentenced to 12 years and 12 ½ years, respectively. All three defendants were convicted of conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.
The Darknet operations pumped kilograms of fentanyl pills into communities across the nation over the course of four years, using Darknet markets including AlphaBay, Dream, Wall Street, and Empire to reach a broad customer base. The defendants also used encrypted messaging services to communicate with and sell pills directly to customers. In exchange for cryptocurrency, the defendants sold fentanyl pills that were shipped via the U.S. Postal Service to buyers in the District of Columbia and all 50 states. The conspiracies relied on sophisticated technology to distribute and profit from a staggering quantity of pills pressed with fentanyl.
The case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Crane and Assistant U.S. Attorney Connor Mullin. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Hi-Tech Opioid Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents, analysts, and task force partners, including special agents and officers of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, DEA, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and detectives from local assisting police agencies. Additional assistance was provided by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the District of Rhode Island and the Southern District of Florida, the FBI’s Miami and Boston Field Offices, and the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit.