Investigators Trace Crypto to Dark Web Drug Scheme; UK Trio Jailed

Three men from the United Kingdom have been sentenced to a combined total of 27 years in prison for operating an extensive crypto-related drug scheme, an October 13 press release from the Regional Organized Crime Unit Network says.

UK 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 former two pleaded guilty to criminal charges tied to the digital asset scheme.

“These three men were involved in a complex operation to take orders for class A drugs over the dark web and then distributing them across the country using the postal service,” Detective Inspector Rob Bryant of South East Regional Organized Crime Unit’s Cyber Pursue, Prevent, Crypto-currency and Dark Web team said.

“I hope that this shows criminals that their activities on the dark web are detectable and that we can and do monitor their behavior before carrying out arrests and bringing them before the courts,” he added.

Crypto Criminals Face Nearly 30 Years In Prison

The crypto criminals’ plot was discovered when investigators found that Magala had been selling heroin and crack cocaine on the dark web via an online persona.

Omard and Kirunda-Nsiiro took on the task of preparing and shipping the illicit orders, with the latter eventually handling orders via cryptocurrency transactions.

Magala, who pleaded guilty to drug and property-related charges earlier, was found with £3,150 ($4,198) worth of cryptocurrency and digital asset hardware when he was arrested in July 20022.

Omard and Magala are set to serve 11 years and four years behind bars for the crypto crimes, respectively.

Kirunda-Nsiiro pleaded not guilty to the same charges as his co-conspirators, but was convicted after a two-week trial in August. He was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison.