A 23-year-old man from Taiwan named Rui-Siang Lin, also known as “Pharoah,” has been arrested on charges of selling at least $100 million worth of illegal drugs online through the Incognito Market on the dark web. The Justice Department called Incognito Market “one of the largest illegal narcotics marketplaces on the internet.” Lin was arrested at JFK Airport in New York and is set to appear in court. Attorney General Merrick Garland described Lin as the architect of a dark web scheme to traffic deadly drugs globally.
Incognito Market, which was shut down in March, was an online dark web marketplace that allowed users to buy and sell illegal drugs anonymously. Hundreds of pounds of cocaine, methamphetamines, and other drugs were sold on the site since its launch in October 2020. The operation offered users the purchase of lethal drugs and fraudulent prescription medication on a global scale. The site included features of legitimate e-commerce platforms such as branding, advertising, and customer service. Vendors paid a percentage of sales to the market, providing Lin with millions of dollars in profits.
Users of Incognito Market were met with a splash page and graphic interface when visiting the site. Lin faces up to life in prison if convicted of narcotics conspiracy. Prior to his arrest, Lin had been working at Taiwan’s embassy in St Lucia, a Caribbean nation that is one of Taiwan’s few allies. He had applied to work as part of the embassy’s technical corps in lieu of mandatory military service and had behaved normally. Lin was scheduled to be discharged in July but applied for leave and left St Lucia on May 18. Taiwan is closely monitoring the case involving his arrest in New York.
Taipei’s foreign ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu stated that Taiwan is keeping a close watch on the case and that Lin’s arrest highlights the efforts of law enforcement to identify and dismantle illicit drug networks operating in shadowy online marketplaces. The NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban commended the arrest, highlighting the ongoing efforts to combat illegal drug activities. Lin’s alleged involvement in the operation of Incognito Market, which facilitated the sale of a wide range of illegal narcotics, underscores the challenges posed by dark web platforms in distributing illegal substances globally. Lin’s arrest and the shutdown of Incognito Market represent a significant step in combating online drug trafficking activities.
