Dark Web Drug Lord’s $150 Million Crypto Empire Unveiled: A Digital Age Drug Trafficking Saga

Banmeet Singh, a 40-year-old Indian national, has admitted to orchestrating a massive narcotics enterprise across continents.

His admission comes after the largest crypto and cash seizure in the history of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), totaling a staggering $150 million in forfeited crypto assets.

Singh’s criminal enterprise, which features sophisticated use of the dark web and crypto, sheds light on the changing landscape of criminal networks in the digital age.

Singh’s digital storefronts, which operated on notorious marketplaces such as Silk Road 1 and 2, Alpha Bay, Hansa, and others, sold controlled substances such as fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax, Ketamine, and Tramadol to a global audience.

Singh’s operation used the anonymity of the dark web to allow customers to purchase drugs with crypto, which were then shipped from Europe to the United States via various shipping services.

Singh oversaw the entire process, allowing him to stay under the radar. From mid-2012 to July 2017, Singh led at least eight distribution cells across the United States, including Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington.

Singh’s empire ended with his arrest in London in April 2019. Singh was extradited to the United States in 2023, where he faced charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Singh’s crimes, which were designated as a Consolidated Priority Target by the DEA, had serious and far-reaching consequences.

The complex network was dismantled through a collaborative effort that included agencies such as the IRS’ Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and local law enforcement, as well as international agencies such as the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, and Central Authority.

Assistant US Attorneys Michael J. Hunter and Emily Cohen played critical roles in the prosecution, emphasizing the importance of a multi-agency, intelligence-driven approach in combating high-level drug traffickers.