Two men, one from Texas and the other from California, could face life in prison after they were charged with allegedly using the dark web and encrypted messaging apps to sell more than 120,000 fake fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills.
Rajiv Srinivasan, 37, of Houston, Texas, and Michael Ta, 24, of Westminster, California, were charged in a 19-count indictment “in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine,” the judge said. Department said in a news release on Friday.
Srinivasan allegedly sold the drugs on “Darkode,” a dark web forum notoriously used for cybercrime, as well as other sites on the dark web. He would advertise and sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl on these forums.
He would also use the Wickr encrypted messaging app to talk to and sell drugs to thousands of customers across the country. Srinivasan allegedly received virtual currency as payment before routing that virtual currency through cryptocurrency exchanges.
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Two men have been charged for allegedly using the dark web and encrypted messaging apps to sell more than 120,000 fake fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills.
(United States Attorney’s Office)
The indictment alleges that between May and November, the two men sold 123,188 fentanyl pills, more than 143 kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as smaller amounts of fentanyl powder, black tar heroin and cocaine.
And between February and November, they sold more than 7,000 pills to an undercover agent they believed was a drug user.
According to the indictment, Ta talked to Srinivasan about the drug orders, obtained fentanyl and methamphetamine pills, stored the drugs at his home and sent drug packages to customers who had ordered them from Srinivasan.
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Rajiv Srinivasan, 37, of Houston, Texas, and Michael Ta, 24, of Westminster, California, were charged with 19 counts.
(CBP)
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Srinivasan was sent to jail without bond and is being transported from Texas to California for trial. Ta has been released on bail and his arraignment is scheduled for December 22.
The maximum statutory sentence for the conspiracy charge alleged in the indictment is life in federal prison, according to the indictment.
