A federal judge has sentenced Rui-Siang Lin, a 24-year-old from Taiwan, to 30 years in prison for his role as the operator of the dark web marketplace known as Incognito Market. This platform, which functioned under the alias “Pharaoh,” facilitated over $105 million in illegal drug transactions between October 2020 and March 2024, completing more than 640,000 sales to a global user base.
Lin”s illegal operation primarily dealt in narcotics, including over 1,000 kilograms each of cocaine and methamphetamines, as well as counterfeit medications containing fentanyl. The U.S. Attorney”s Office for the Southern District of New York highlighted that Lin personally profited over $6 million from these illicit activities, which significantly contributed to the ongoing opioid crisis affecting countless individuals and families.
The investigation that led to Lin”s arrest involved a combination of blockchain analysis, undercover purchases, and the discovery of domain registration records that linked back to him directly. Law enforcement found that Lin had registered the marketplace domain using his own name, phone number, and address, which proved pivotal in tracing his identity.
Incognito Market operated similarly to a legitimate e-commerce site, complete with branding, customer service, and internal banking systems that allowed users to deposit cryptocurrency. It charged vendors a 5% fee on each transaction, which contributed to its operational costs.
Prior to his arrest, Lin was engaged in educational activities abroad, teaching local law enforcement in St. Lucia about cybercrime and cryptocurrency while simultaneously managing his dark web empire. In a controversial policy change announced in January 2022, he permitted vendors to sell opiates, which led to the distribution of fake prescription drugs. An undercover agent later purchased pills falsely marketed as oxycodone that tested positive for fentanyl.
Lin”s marketplace boasted over 400,000 buyer accounts and involved about 1,800 vendors. The platform”s closure involved Lin illicitly stealing at least $1 million from user deposits while attempting to demand payments from both buyers and sellers under the threat of exposing their identities online.
Judge Colleen McMahon remarked that the operation made Lin a “drug kingpin,” describing the case as the most severe drug crime she had encountered in her 27.5 years on the bench. In addition to his extensive prison sentence, Lin will face five years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit $105,045,109.67.
