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US authorities arrested three men after seizing a cyber-drug ring that had laundered cryptocurrency for $ 2.3 million.
Chester Anderson and co-conspirators Jarrette Codd and Ronald Maccarty were charged with operating dark-colored storefronts that sold and shipped hundreds of thousands of counterfeit Xanax tablets and other controlled substances to buyers in 43 American states.
As part of the crackdown, investigators seized "the largest amount of pills in the history of the state of New Jersey," comprising about 420,000 to 620,000 alprazolam tablets, as well as than about 500 heroin capsules containing fentanyl and quantities of methamphetamine, ketamine and GHB.
The authorities also found four tablet presses and two industrial mixers, as well as other drug-making products, as well as cryptocurrencies worth several thousand dollars.
Anderson, Codd and Maccarty are charged with fourth- and fifth-degree conspiracies, as well as first-degree money laundering. Anderson has also been charged with several counts of criminal sale of a fourth and fifth degree controlled substance and theft of first degree identity.
"When our office received reports of suspicious activity at ATMs in New York and New Jersey, our talented investigators followed the money, using our state-of-the-art Cyber Lab to find a counterfeit pills vendor. the dark web, whose transaction amounted to $ 2.3 million. United States, "said district attorney Vance.
According to court records, Anderson has operated two online storefronts using the pseudonym "sinmed" to sell alprazolam. and other controlled substances. Codd and Maccarty helped in the manufacture and purchase of equipment.
During the OpnotManhattan DA undercover investigators bought approximately 10,000 alprazolam tablets, in addition to ketamine and GHB, in the sinmed storefronts.
In addition, Manhattan DA's cybercrime and identity theft office has identified more than 1,000 parcels sent by defendants from New Jersey across the country and seized an additional 8,000 tablets by intercepting several detainees. ;between them.
The majority of packages had return addresses falsely identifying the shipper as a Manhattan company, including several Manhattan law firms, and a real estate agency.
Anderson and Maccarty have created a screen company, Next Level Research and Development, to purchase more than 1,000 kilograms of microcrystalline cellulose, the main ingredient used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical tablets.
As part of this program, they also used Maccarty's phone repair store, The Wireless Spot, to purchase a pill press, a powder blender, and "punch dies" to print "Xanax" labels. on alprazolam pills.
The three accused laundered more than $ 2.3 million in revenue using bitcoin received as payment for charging prepaid debit cards and collectively withdrew more than $ 1 million from ATMs in Manhattan and New York. Jersey.
This is not the first time that cryptocurrency has been used to fuel illicit operations on a black network, and it will surely not be the last. But if this story proves anything, it's because US law enforcement is keeping a close eye on the underworld of the Web, and it's not useful to simply use the BTC as a way for criminals to cover their tracks.
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Posted on 17 April 2019 – 11:07 UTC
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