Man sentenced for leading $150M drug ring on dark web — how Ohio was affected
***Watch previous coverage above.***
(WJW) – A man who led a massive, multi-million dollar drug ring on the dark web, impacting all 50 states and several other countries, was sentenced to prison on Friday.
Banmeet Singh, 40, of India, was sentenced to five years in prison. He was also ordered to forfeit about $150 million in cryptocurrency accounts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Court documents say Singh created vendor marketing sites on dark web marketplaces like Silk Road, Alpha Bay and Hansa.
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Customers would use cryptocurrency to buy drugs like fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax and ketamine, which Singh then shipped from Europe to the U.S., court records say.
Investigators say Singh controlled eight U.S. distribution cells between 2012 and July 2017. Some of the cells were located in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington.
The drugs were then distributed across all 50 states, as well as Canada, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland and the U.S. Virgin Island, the DOJ says.
Court records say the drug ring, worth roughly $150 million, moved hundreds of kilograms of controlled substances around the U.S. over the years.
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Singh was arrested in London in April 2019 before being extradited to the U.S. in March 2023.
Earlier this year, Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
NBC4 reported in January that seven others had been charged in connection to the drug ring, including two people convicted in the Southern District of Ohio.
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