Washington:
A 40-year-old Indian national extradited from Britain has pleaded guilty to running a global dark web enterprise to sell “deadly and dangerous drugs to communities across America” and agreed to donate approximately $150 million in cryptocurrency to forfeit.
According to court documents, Banmeet Singh of Haldwani in Uttarakhand set up marketing sites on the dark web to sell controlled substances including fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax, Ketamine and Tramadol, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.
Customers ordered controlled substances from Banmeet Singh through supplier sites and by paying with cryptocurrency. Banmeet Singh then personally shipped the drugs from Europe to America or arranged through U.S. mail or other shipping services, the release said Friday.
“Banmeet Singh and traffickers like him believe they can operate anonymously on the dark web and avoid prosecution… Today's guilty plea, which includes the forfeiture of approximately $150 million in cryptocurrency, shows that the Justice Department who violate U.S. law will be held accountable no matter how they conceal their activities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Department's Criminal Division.
From mid-2012 through July 2017, Banmeet Singh controlled at least eight distribution cells in the US, including cells in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota and Washington, among others.
Individuals in these distribution cells received drug shipments from abroad and then repackaged and reshipped to locations in all 50 states, Canada, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the release said.
“Banmeet Singh operated a global dark web enterprise to send fentanyl and other deadly and dangerous drugs to communities across America – in all 50 states – as well as Canada, Europe and the Caribbean,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram (Drug Enforcement Administration). DEA).
During the course of the conspiracy, Singh moved hundreds of pounds of controlled substances across the US and founded a drug company that laundered millions of dollars in drug proceeds into cryptocurrency accounts, which eventually came to be valued at approximately $150 million.
In April 2019, Banmeet Singh was arrested in London and the US secured his extradition in 2023.
Banmeet Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He faces an agreed prison sentence of eight years. A sentencing date has not yet been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the news release said.
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