Bitcoin

Silk Road

Read

/send

<div class="protos">
 <div>
  <div>
   <div>
    <p>A 33-year-old Serbian man has pleaded guilty to creating a dark web marketplace that raked in $18 million by selling over 30kg of meth and a host of other drugs in exchange for various cryptocurrencies, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).&nbsp;</p>
    <p>In 2019, Milomir Desnica launched Monopoly Market which, according to court records, presented itself as a typical online shop where users browse purchasable <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="drugs" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/drugs.html">drugs</a> under the categories of cannabis, ecstasy, opioids, prescriptions, and stimulants.</p>
    <p>Customers were required to buy the <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="drugs" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/drugs.html">drugs</a> with <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">Crypto</a>, such as Bitcoin or Monero, from individual vendors who made a commission on every sale. Desnica’s role included approving wannabe vendors.</p>
    <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-police-used-crypto-to-buy-drugs-and-expose-the-market">Police used crypto to buy drugs and expose the market</h2>
    <p>In 2021, Monopoly Market began to collapse after US authorities placed several orders with the site and <strong>received over 100g of meth</strong>. Authorities in Germany and Finland subsequently helped seize the server hosting the site.</p>
    <p>Once confiscated, the computer was used to unearth drug transactions, <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">Crypto</a> payments, vendor communications, and commission invoices, among other pieces of valuable data. This is also when Desnica’s role in the operation was discovered.&nbsp;</p>
    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-protos wp-block-embed-protos">
     <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
      <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="3utQFj0TQK">
       Prison plot to move $54M ether to Bahamas ends in seizure
      </blockquote><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="“Prison plot to move $54M ether to Bahamas ends in seizure” — Protos" src="https://protos.com/prison-plot-to-move-54m-ether-to-bahamas-ends-in-seizure/embed/#?secret=tB4HgHMl3X#?secret=3utQFj0TQK" data-secret="3utQFj0TQK" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
     </div>
    </figure>
    <p><em>Read more: Silk Road leads Aussie cops to $6M Bitcoin seizure — thanks to the FBI</em></p>
    <p>The FBI was then able to use the bitcoin-paid vendor invoices to track illicit funds despite Monopoly Market attempting to obfuscate its tracks.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Austrian authorities located and arrested Desnica in November 2021, <strong>seizing his house, his car, more than €18,000, 866 in Tether (USDT), and over $400 in ETH</strong>. Desnica admitted that his seized goods were all made from the proceeds of Monopoly Market.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Desnica was extradited from Austria in June this year to face US charges and pleaded <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="guilty" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/guilty.html">guilty</a> to both conspiracy to distribute and possession of over 50 grams of methamphetamine with intent to sell. He faces between 10 years and life in prison.&nbsp;</p>
    <p><em>Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on&nbsp;X,&nbsp;Instagram,&nbsp;Bluesky, and&nbsp;Google News, or subscribe to our&nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;channel.</em></p>
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
</div>
<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/serbian-guilty-of-running-18m-crypto-drugs-market-tbt69836.html">https://thebittimes.com/serbian-guilty-of-running-18m-crypto-drugs-market-tbt69836.html</a></p>

Serbian guilty of running $18M crypto drugs market

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on Nov 10, 2023

Do Current Market Conditions Favor A Bullish Future For Shiba Inu (SHIB) And Floki Inu (FLOKI)?

MATIC Price Prediction: Polygon Pump 15%, Bulls Target $1

Tron Founder Justin Sun Offers 5% Cut to Hacker After Poloniex Crypto Exchange Loses $125,000,000...

HIFI Finance Surges 100% in 3 Days: Analyst Unveils Key Insights

Chainlink (LINK) Price Analysis: Will the Price Continue to Fall?

Ripple Threatens To Fall To $0.61; The End Of The Uptrend

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!