A 40-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to five years in the United States prison for selling controlled substances on dark web platforms. The druglord identified as Banmeet Singh is from Haldwani in Uttarakhand. He was ordered to forfeit approximately USD 150 million.
Singh was arrested in London in April 2019 at the request of the US. In March 2023, he was extradited to the US. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering in January.
Singh sold controlled substances, including fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax, ketamine, and tramadol, by creating vendor marketing sites on dark web marketplaces. According to statements made in court, he sold substances on dark web platforms like Slik Road, Alpha Bay, Hansa, and others.
The customers were paid with cryptocurrency for drugs ordered from Singh using the vendor sites. Singh then personally shipped or arranged the shipment of the drugs from Europe to the United States through US mail or other shipping services, reported PTI.
From 2012 through July 2017, Singh controlled at least eight distribution cells within the US, including cells located in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington, among other locations.
The Department of Justice said that individuals in these distribution cells received drug shipments and then re-packaged and re-shipped the drugs to locations in all 50 states, Canada, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland, and the US Virgin Islands.
“Over the course of the conspiracy, the Singh drug organisation moved hundreds of kilograms of controlled substances throughout the United States and established a multimillion-dollar drug enterprise that laundered millions of dollars of drug proceeds into cryptocurrency accounts, which ultimately became worth approximately USD150 million,” an official release said.
