Dark web trafficker, Joana De Alba, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged for a conspiracy to possess and distribute illegal drugs including heroin and methamphetamine, while asked for payment in Bitcoin as we are reading in our Bitcoin latest news.
The suspect was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border on October 24th, 2019, in an attempt to enter the United States. Richard P. Donoghue stated in a press release on Thursday that the dark web trafficker Joanna distributed the illegal drugs from the dark web with the intent to guard her and her customer’s identities. But with a joint effort of the special agents in the prosecutor office and the DEA, she was exposed and charged with criminal acts.
The anonymity that is provided by the dark web makes it a natural habitat for illegal criminal activities, because of their incorrect opinion that any online activity in that part of the internet protects them from tracking by law enforcement agencies.
“Anonymity is what drug dealers rely on in the dark web, but this case proves it’s false security. Law enforcement is committed to tracking down drug traffickers’ distribution networks everywhere,” Said Special Agent-in-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Ray Donovan.
According to the charges brought to her, she marketed and sold illegal drugs on Wall Street Market, an international market on the dark web that gives the opportunity to trade and have Bitcoin and other cryptos as contract currency. The suspect conducted the illegal activity from June 2018 till May 2019 under the pseudonym “RaptureReloaded” while utilizing encrypted messaging services to communicate with her clients. She received her payments in Bitcoin and offered free shipping to the customer’s addresses if they were in the U.S. also, she offered different delivery options that helped the law enforcement to crack her down.
As per the press release, she sold 30 gr of heroin and 10 gr of methamphetamine to an undercover DEA agent that paid $1,970 from RaptureReloaded’s listing on January 3, 2019. The agent paid with Bitcoin as agreed with the seller. Beside Joanna is only charged and not proven guilty, she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 100 years of imprisonment.
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