A 36-year-old California fentanyl kingpin, who prosecutors say sold millions of pills on the darknet, will be indicted Wednesday as part of a federal crackdown on the synthetic opioid that the Justice Department says is “killing Americans a unprecedented level.” ”
Christopher Hampton, of Cerritos, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week “with heading an organization that sourced fentanyl in bulk, operated laboratories in Inglewood and Compton that used high-speed pill presses to create fake pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, and sold millions of pills to thousands of customers on the dark web,” according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Hampton is scheduled to be arraigned on November 23 in Los Angeles federal court on an 11-count indictment containing narcotics and weapons offenses that, if convicted, could result in a life sentence.
“Hampton, who was active in at least nine dark web markets, where he typically used the nickname ‘Narco710,’ was arrested on November 2, at which time agents from the FBI, DEA, HSI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco , Firearms and explosives, along with US Postal Inspectors, executed search warrants,” the prosecutor’s office said.
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A pair of manual pill presses used to mass-produce fake fentanyl-containing pills that are sold on the dark web and through distributors operating openly on social media sites are on display at the Central District of California offices of the Office of the US Attorney in Los Angeles on November 21.
(AP/Damián Dovarganes)
“Those searches led to the discovery and seizure of 450 pounds of suspected narcotics; six pill-squeezing machines, some of which were capable of producing thousands of pills per hour; and illegal firearms including assault rifles and an alleged machine gun. “says the statement. continued. “Officers also recovered from the Hampton residence more than 20,000 multicolored fentanyl-containing pills, so-called ‘skittles’ manufactured to resemble oxycodone pills.”
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, left, holds up a photo of the late Daniel Puerta-Johnson, 16, a victim of fentanyl poisoning, as his father, Jaime Puerta, president of Victims of Illicit Drugs, at the podium, joins to the US Attorney’s Office. California Central District Office to Address Widespread Harm Caused by Fentanyl in Los Angeles, Monday, Nov. 21.
(AP/Damián Dovarganes)
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Prosecutors say the indictment alleges Hampton sold nearly $2 million worth of narcotics on two dark web marketplaces he and his colleagues controlled.
A bag of fentanyl pills in the colors of the rainbow.
(United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA))
“Federal police are making efforts to eliminate organizations that mass-produce fake fentanyl-containing pills that are sold on the dark web and through distributors operating openly on social networking sites,” the US Attorney’s Office also said. “Other programs active in the Southern California region target street dealers who sell products that lead to fatal fentanyl poisoning, as well as those who traffic in bulk quantities of fentanyl and counterfeit pharmaceutical pills produced by cartels. of the drug”.
