An alleged operator of “Incognito Market,” a prominent dark web narcotics marketplace, has been arrested by U.S. law enforcement. The marketplace facilitated over $100 million in illegal narcotics sales worldwide.
Rui-Siang Lin, a 23-year-old from Taiwan, was apprehended at John F. Kennedy Airport on May 18, 2024. Lin is accused of operating the Incognito Market under the pseudonym “Pharoah,” managing all aspects of the site, including employees, vendors, and customers, as revealed in an unsealed indictment filed with the federal court in the U.S. Southern District of New York.
Incognito Market’s Operations
Since its inception in October 2020 until its closure in March 2024, Incognito Market sold substantial quantities of illegal narcotics, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamines. The site, accessible via the Tor web browser, facilitated global sales.
In its 41 months of operation, the underground marketplace conducted over $100 million in narcotics sales. By June 2023, monthly sales had reached $5 million.
Features and Transactions
Incognito Market mimicked legitimate e-commerce sites, featuring branding, advertising, and customer service. Users could search listings for various narcotics after logging in with unique credentials. The site offered illegal narcotics and misbranded prescription drugs, including heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, methamphetamines, ketamine, and alprazolam.
In November 2023, an undercover law enforcement agent received several tablets purported to be oxycodone, purchased on Incognito Market. Testing revealed that these tablets were, in fact, fentanyl pills, not authentic oxycodone, according to the Justice Department.
Operational Details
Vendors on Incognito Market paid a non-refundable admission fee of $750 and a 5% commission on each sale. These fees funded market operations, including salaries and server costs.
The marketplace also operated its own “bank” to facilitate illicit transactions, allowing users to deposit cryptocurrency. This system facilitated anonymous transactions between buyers and sellers, while deducting the site’s 5% commission.
The banking service obscured the locations and identities of vendors and customers from each other and from law enforcement. It kept the financial information of vendors and buyers separate, making it more difficult for any actor on the marketplace to learn another’s true identity.
The bank also offered an “escrow” service, providing additional security for narcotics transactions. Buyers’ money was released to sellers only after specified actions, such as the shipment of narcotics.
The Exit Scam
In March 2024, Lin abruptly shuttered the Incognito Market and attempted an exit scam, stealing users’ funds stored in the escrow system. He also attempted to ransom the market’s drug vendors, demanding between $100 and $2,000 to avoid turning their data over to law enforcement.
Lin’s Technical Prowess
Lin’s technical skills in security and cryptocurrency were highlighted in social media accounts listed in the complaint against him. His GitHub account describes him as a “Backend and Blockchain Engineer, Monero Enthusiast,” with approximately 35 publicly available software coding projects. These projects include operating cryptocurrency servers and web applications like PoW Shield (a tool to mitigate DDoS attacks), Monero Merchant (a software tool for accepting XMR payments), and Koa-typescript-framework (a web framework software program).
Lin also gave a YouTube interview in October 2021, explaining how his anti-DDoS tool “PoW Shield” worked. The final piece of evidence linking Lin to the administrator “Pharoah” of Incognito Market was a hand-drawn workflow diagram of a darknet marketplace, mailed from Lin’s personal email address.
Charges and Potential Sentences
Lin faces severe penalties if convicted, including:
- Continuing Criminal Enterprise: Mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison.
- Narcotics Conspiracy: Maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Money Laundering: Maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
- Conspiracy to Sell Adulterated and Misbranded Medication: Maximum penalty of five years in prison.
A federal district court judge will determine Lin’s sentence after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
