Three men from the United Kingdom have been sentenced to a combined total of 27 years in prison for operating a large crypto-linked drug scheme, says an Oct. 13 press release from the Regional Organized Crime Unit Network.
British trio used digital assets in drug scheme
According to the press release, Malcolm Magala, Jerome Omard and Alain Kirunda-Nsiiro were sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday after the first two pleaded guilty to criminal charges relating to the digital asset scheme.
“These three men were involved in a complex operation to take orders for Class A drugs on the dark web and then distribute them across the country using the postal service,” said Detective Inspector Rob Bryant of the South East Regional Organized Crime Unit’s Cyber Pursue, Prevent, Cryptocurrency and Dark Web team.
“I hope this will show criminals that their activities on the dark web are detectable and that we can monitor their behavior before making arrests and bringing them to court,” he added.
Crypto criminals face nearly 30 years in prison
The crypto criminals’ plot was uncovered when investigators discovered Magala was selling heroin and crack cocaine on the dark web through an online persona.
Omard and Kirunda-Nsiiro took responsibility for preparing and shipping the illicit orders, with the latter ultimately processing the orders via cryptocurrency transactions.
Magala, who earlier pleaded guilty to drug and property-related charges, was found in possession of £3,150 ($4,198) worth of cryptocurrency and digital asset equipment when he was arrested in July 2002.
Omard and Magala are expected to serve 11 years and four years in prison, respectively, for crypto crimes.
Kirunda-Nsiiro pleaded not guilty to the same charges as his co-conspirators, but was found guilty after a two-week trial in August. He was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison.
Read original story Investigators trace crypto to Dark Web drug scheme; British trio jailed by Julia Smith on Cryptonews.com
