$150 Million in Cryptocurrency Seized in US Drug Trafficking Case

An Indian citizen has pleaded guilty in a US court to drug distribution and money laundering. The amount of cryptocurrency confiscated from him reached a record $150 million for the history of the DEA.

According to court documents, 40-year-old Banmit Singh created marketing sites on darknet marketplaces like Silk Road 2, AlphaBay, and Hansa to sell illegal substances. Buyers paid with cryptocurrencies.

From mid-2012 to July 2017, the accused controlled at least eight distribution points in the US. Operators of these distribution centers received drug shipments from abroad, then distributed them across the country and sent them to England, Ireland, Jamaica, and Scotland.

Singh was arrested in London in April 2019. He is one of eight members of the organization convicted in the case of illegal drug trafficking in the United States.

“Singh and traders like him think they can operate anonymously on the darknet and avoid prosecution. Today’s guilty plea, which includes the forfeiture of approximately $150 million in cryptocurrencies, demonstrates that the Department of Justice will hold violators of US law accountable, regardless of how they conceal their activities,” said Nicole Argentieri, a representative of the department’s criminal division.

Earlier in January, the Department of Justice charged 19 individuals connected to the activities of the darknet marketplace xDedic.

In December 2023, German police shut down the Kingdom Market platform in the “dark web,” which sold drugs, malware, criminal services, and fake documents.