Taiwanese 'Pharaoh' Arrested in US for Masterminding $100M Darknet Drug Market
Taiwanese national Rui-Siang Lin, known online as 'Pharaoh', has been arrested by US police at New York's JFK Airport. Lin is accused of masterminding the Incognito darknet marketplace, which sold around $100 million worth of drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, since late 2020. He faces a potential life sentence for drug and cybercrime offenses.
Lin, an IT specialist at the St. Lucia embassy in Taipei, founded Incognito and Antinalysis, a tool for on-chain transaction analysis. By summer 2023, Incognito's trading volume reached $5 million per month. Lin's balance on an exchange under his real name grew to around $5 million by the end of 2023.
The FBI discovered a Bitcoin wallet used by Lin to register four more domains under his real name. Lin shut down Incognito and blackmailed users for $20,000 each, threatening to leak their messages and transactions.
Rui-Siang Lin's arrest highlights the growing threat of darknet marketplaces and the importance of international cooperation in combating cybercrime. Lin's legal career and training in cybercrime and cryptocurrency in China may have contributed to his sophisticated operation. The potential life sentence he faces reflects the severity of his alleged crimes.
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