#Rui-Siang Lin Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Operating Incognito Market

A prominent figure in the dark web's narcotics trade has been brought to justice.

#Incognito Market: A Sophisticated Online Narcotics Bazaar

Rui-Siang Lin, also known as "Pharaoh," was sentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiring to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and conspiring to sell adulterated and misbranded medication. Lin was the owner and operator of Incognito Market, an online narcotics marketplace that sold over $105 million worth of illegal narcotics to customers worldwide.

#Key Facts About Incognito Market

• Over $105 million in narcotics sold: Incognito Market sold over $105 million worth of narcotics, including:
  • Over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine
  • Over 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamines
  • Hundreds of kilograms of other narcotics
  • More than 4 kilograms of purported "oxycodone," some of which were laced with fentanyl
• Over 400,000 buyer accounts: Incognito Market had over 400,000 buyer accounts and over 1,800 narcotics vendors.
• Facilitated over 640,000 transactions: Incognito Market facilitated over 640,000 individual narcotics transactions.

#The Impact of Incognito Market

Incognito Market was designed to facilitate seamless narcotics transactions across the internet and the world. The site's listings included offerings of prescription medication that was advertised as being authentic but was not. This led to tragic consequences, including:

• Death of a 27-year-old: A 27-year-old from Arkansas died from consuming purported "oxycodone" that he purchased on the Incognito Market.
• Fentanyl-laced pills: Testing on tablets purchased on Incognito Market revealed that they were not authentic oxycodone at all and were, in fact, fentanyl pills.

#Lin's Leadership and Operations

Lin, a 24-year-old from Taiwan, was a founding member of Incognito Market and led the site from approximately January 2022 until its closure in March 2024. He operated the site while based in St. Lucia and:

• Ran a training for St. Lucian police officers: Lin ran a four-day training for St. Lucian police officers about "Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency," which he bragged about on his personal Facebook page.

#The Role of Cryptocurrencies in Incognito Market

Incognito Market used cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR), to facilitate transactions. The site handled over 640,000 cryptocurrency transactions, taking a 5% cut of each sale. Blockchain research played a significant role in the FBI's investigation, linking Lin to the marketplace.

#Blockchain Tracing

Investigators followed money from Incognito-controlled wallets to Lin's accounts at a cryptocurrency exchange. Key steps included:

• Connecting wallets: Connecting a wallet that received Incognito money to transfers transferred to a provider that swapped Bitcoin for Monero before putting it in the wallet.
• Obtaining identification documents: Obtaining identification documents from the exchange, such as Lin's Taiwanese driver's license photo, email address, and phone number.
• Linking to a domain registration account: Linking those pieces together with a Namecheap domain registration account used to buy a promotional website for Incognito, with payments tracked from Lin's crypto wallets.

#The Charges

Lin was charged with:

• Conspiring to distribute narcotics
• Money laundering
• Conspiring to sell adulterated and misbranded medication

#The Verdict

Lin was sentenced to:

• 30 years in prison
• Five years of supervised release
• $105,045,109.67 in forfeiture

#The Case

The case was handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel and Nicholas Chiuchiolo in charge of the prosecution.

#Additional Information

• Exit scam and extortion attempt: Lin shut down the platform in March 2024, stealing at least $1 million in user deposits. He then attempted to extort users, posting a message that said "YES, THIS IS AN EXTORTION!!!" and threatening to disclose their transaction history, chat logs, and bitcoin addresses unless they paid payments ranging from $100 to $20,000.
• Arrest and custody: Lin was taken into custody at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport in May 2024.