IRS sends undercover agent to eliminate criminals in crypto market

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Source: AdobeStock / sergign

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is doing everything it can to track down criminals who use cryptocurrencies in dark web drug sales, deploying an undercover agent to work in the peer-to-peer market. peer (P2P) LocalCryptos.com.

The platform promotes itself as a bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) P2P marketplace with over 100,000 users based in 130 countries around the world using its services to buy and sell crypto. Until 2019, it operated under the name LocalEthereum before changing brands to include more cryptocurrencies in its wallet.

Assuming Mr. Coins’ identity, the undercover agent has developed a stellar reputation on the site, garnering 100% positive reviews on his profile, while raising up to $ 200,000 worth of crypto in around 50 transactions.

According to a search warrant obtained by Forbes, one of the main successes of IRS employees included eliminating an alleged dark web drug trafficker by getting him to send more than $ 180,000 in cash to crypto exchange.

In June 2020, Mr. Coins posted an online ad offering to buy bitcoin for cash by mail above market prices, encouraging potential sellers to contact him through crypto apps like Wickr or WhatsApp. . Soon a person named Lucifallen21 contacted the undercover agent to ask about the offer. The IRS identified the potential seller as a resident of Evansville, Indiana, and proceeded to negotiate the deal.

In July 2020, Lucifallen21 agreed to buy 1.59 BTC from Mr Coins, wrapping around $ 15,040 in cash in clothes and sending it in a box to the undercover agent, according to available legal documents. The man’s posts indicated that he was involved in dealing drugs on the dark web, claiming he was trading in cocaine, marijuana, as well as pills and opioids.

The man had proceeded to purchase other crypto from Mr. Coins before the undercover agent finally agreed to sell the drug dealer $ 79,000 in cryptocurrency for $ 54,000 in cash. Once the package reached the IRS employee, forensic experts took Lucifallen21’s fingerprints and, using existing records, linked them to the Evansville resident.

Lucifallen21 was arrested and the IRS filed charges in the Eastern District of New York. The suspected drug trafficker has yet to file a complaint.

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Read more: Australian Police Make Record Crypto Seizure With Dark Web Drug Bust – DOJ Ignored $ 500,000 In Forked Crypto In Bitcoin Bust

– South Korea Develops Solution That Tracks Dark Web Crypto Transactions – Largest Darknet Market Allegedly Left $ 30 Million Crypto Scams – Report

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