Darknet Opioid Ring Busted: $220K in Bitcoin Traced Back to Counterfeit Pill Sellers
A joint investigation by the FBI, DEA, and US Postal Inspection Service has led to the arrest of two brothers accused of selling counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with nitazenes on darknet marketplaces.
Vladislav Chernyshov, a naturalised US citizen, and Stanislav Chernyshov, a Russian national residing illegally in Jacksonville, Florida, were arrested on August 28 for conspiracy charges carrying a maximum penalty of at least 20 years in prison.
The investigation began after a fatal overdose in Arlington, Virginia, on August 28, 2023. Agents connected pills recovered at the scene to BarbaraWhite listings that advertised the tablets as 'fent free'.
The $220,000 in Bitcoin tracked by investigators was used to purchase precursor chemicals from a China-based supplier.