A 23-year-old Taiwanese man known as “Pharaoh,” Lin Rui-xiang, was the mastermind behind the dark web drug trading platform “Incognito Market,” raking in millions of illicit profits. He was finally apprehended last Saturday at New York’s Kennedy Airport, with his true identity revealed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – surprisingly, he turned out to be an alumnus of National Taiwan University.
According to documents unsealed by the Southern District of New York federal prosecutor’s office on May 20, FBI Special Agent Mark Rubins meticulously documented Lin Rui-xiang’s modus operandi and earnings from operating the illicit drug trading platform “Incognito Market” since October 2020.
The documents revealed that Lin, operating under the alias “Pharaoh” or “faro,” was responsible for overseeing the daily operations of “Incognito Market,” where he facilitated the illegal sale of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, and other drugs by over 200,000 individuals through the dark web platform.
Lin had at least two employees working under him, using aliases to conceal their identities while advertising for Lin’s activities on other dark web platforms.
FBI investigations uncovered that the “Incognito Market” primarily utilized cryptocurrency transactions. During its operation of over three years, the platform’s bank accounts processed over $80 million in cryptocurrency transactions (including Bitcoin and Monero), with Lin himself amassing profits exceeding $11 million.
Upon identifying Lin’s purchase of domain names for hosting “Incognito Market” activities through “Namecheap,” the FBI traced his phone number’s area code to Taiwan, with a mailing address in Taipei, and confirmed his graduation from National Taiwan University.
FBI disclosures further revealed that around October 4, 2023, Lin applied for a U.S. visa using his Taiwan phone and personal email registered for managing dark web domains. He described his work responsibilities as “research and development of blockchain applications and backends.”
The FBI noted in the documents that Lin hails from Taiwan and is a graduate of National Taiwan University. Lin was found in possession of a driving license issued by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China. FBI linked Lin’s personal information to his dark web drug platform’s cryptocurrency account details.
FBI also obtained Lin’s resume dated before November 2023, indicating his previous roles as an intern, student researcher, co-founder of an obscure tech company, and an IT personnel for a foreign government office.
It appears that Lin’s modest resume failed to convince FBI about his possession of significant cryptocurrency assets. Evidence from Lin’s YouTube channel discussing Distributed Denial of Service attacks and email phishing project “PoW Shield,” as well as his similar platforms on Github, was used by the FBI to correlate Lin’s technical skills for maintaining the dark web.
Furthermore, FBI discovered in Lin’s personal email a workflow diagram related to his dark web activities.
After a meticulous process of evidence collection and tracking, FBI Special Agent Rubins identified Lin’s searches for information on flights to St. Lucia between October and November 2023. Upon confirming law enforcement sightings of Lin at Toronto Pearson International Airport and his subsequent arrival in St. Lucia, FBI secured an arrest warrant from the Southern District of New York.
Lin Rui-xiang was apprehended last Saturday (May 18) at New York’s Kennedy Airport. Federal Prosecutor Damien Williams, together with officials from FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced Lin’s capture and subsequent court appearance at Manhattan Federal Court the same day.
Lin Rui-xiang faces charges of operating a criminal enterprise, conspiring to engage in narcotics activities, money laundering, and conspiring to sell counterfeit and misbranded drugs. The former two charges carry life imprisonment, while the latter two can result in 20 and 5 years of incarceration, respectively.
In a statement on May 20, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland remarked, “Those who think they can illegally operate drug trafficking on the dark web are mistaken. Lin Rui-xiang is charged with designing ‘Incognito Market,’ a $100 million dark web scheme that shipped deadly drugs to the United States and worldwide. The long arm of the law reaches into the dark web, and we will hold accountable those who try to hide criminal activities there.”
Federal Prosecutor Damien Williams of the Southern District of New York added, “The so-called ‘dark web’ is not a safe haven for those attempting to break the law.”