A high-volume seller of the drug on the dark web got captured by police after a sting operation. He has to pay a penalty of $4 million. The penalty amount to be paid by the accused is in cryptocurrency and quadrillion Zimbabwe banknote. The kingpin lost his stash to undercover police to whom he was trying to sell the drugs.
The accused named Richard Castro is a resident of Windermere, Florida. The 36 years old traded synthetic opioids on the Darknet. The drugs specifically include Carfentanil, fentanyl, and phenyl fentanyl. All the drugs mentioned above are potent painkillers and tranquilizers.
Traded drugs cannot be sold without prescriptions. The drug Fentanyl is only given to the people suffering for a long time with severe chronic pain that too under the supervision of the doctor. Carfentanil is used to large tranquil animals and is considered deadly while phenyl fentanyl is an active derivative of fentanyl.
The allegations brought against him can send him in jail for at least ten years or even life imprisonment. He is also found the culprit of money laundering for that he may get a sentence of 20 years in jail.
As per the information, Castro and his companion have operated on several markets which include AlphaBay and Dream Market. He has claimed to have completed several darknet deals with positive feedbacks from his customers.
As per the plea agreement, Castro has to pay a penalty of $4,156,198.18, which includes funds from different Bitcoin wallets addresses.
Although Castro planned to move his business away from Darknet last year, he even informed his clients that the business would be conducted over encrypted mail for that they have to pay fees. The undercover police officer paid the fees and placed the order. Castro shipped the drugs to the address given by the police officer, which led to his arrest.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the attorney of Manhattan, has told the media, Castro has accepted that he used to sell the prolific quantity of potent opioids using the Dark web.
Ha also confessed that his clients paid him through cryptocurrencies which he directed to seven Bitcoin wallets. The drug dealer also laundered funds for buying valuable assets and Zimbabwe fiat currency.