Operation Darkness Falls nets Canadian fentanyl dealer
The US DoJ, Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the US Postal Service and DEA announced several arrests in Operation Darkness Falls, an international operation that sought to ferret out the identities of people selling illegal drugs, especially fentanyl, on the darknet that accepted Bitcoin and other digital currencies for payment.
A Canadian in Vancouver named Robert Kiessling was arrested in Canada. He was vendor DF44 on AlphaBay, the Canadian darknet trading platform that facilitated the sale and purchase of illegal drugs, guns, weapons, stolen identities and such, using Bitcoin and other digital currencies. AlphaBay was started by Alexandre Cazes from Quebec.
When AlphaBay was shut down by the US government, Kiessling moved to Dream Market. Under DF44, he openly promoted the sale of fentanyl (below). Kiessling committed suicide after his arrest before he could be extradited to the US. He was the 3rd largest fentanyl vendor in North America. Like the other Canadian who founded AlphaBay and was indicted in the US, Kiessling committed suicide after his arrest.
Largest fentanyl vendor also arrested in US
Also arrested were Matthew Roberts and Holly Roberts of San Antonio, Texas, who are alleged to have created and operated several darknet accounts, including MH4Life on Dream Market, Silk Road and on Canada’s AlphaBay to sell fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, meth and other illegal drugs.
The Roberts are alleged to be the most prolific darknet fentanyl vendor in the US and the 4th largest in the world.
MH4Life seems to have known his identity was discovered on the darknet because he posted a “Code Red” post before being arrested (below).
Also arrested as part of Operation Darkness Falls were Americans Antoin Austin, known as Dark King 22, who pleaded guilty to operating a fentanyl business from an apartment with children and Ryan Kluth, known as Panachecak, who pleaded guilty to selling fentanyl and child pornography on the darknet. They both used Bitcoin for payment.