• Home
  • Become a Hacker
    • Get Started
    • Hacker Mindset
    • Roadmap
    • Simple Setup – Hacker 101
    • Types of Hackers
    • Recommended Courses
  • Boot People Offline
  • Courses
    • All Hacking Courses
    • Cyber Security School
  • CTF
    • Beginners to Advanced Guide
    • Create your own CTF box
    • Field and Resources Guide
    • Platforms & Wargames
    • Tools Used for Solving CTF
    • Writeups
  • Dark Web
    • Beginners Guide
    • Darknet Markets
    • Darkweb 101 (Anonymity Guide)
    • Dark Web OSINT Tools
    • Hacking Forums
    • Latest News
    • Onion Links
  • Hacker Gadgets
  • Hacking Books
  • Tools Directory
Menu
  • Home
  • Become a Hacker
    • Get Started
    • Hacker Mindset
    • Roadmap
    • Simple Setup – Hacker 101
    • Types of Hackers
    • Recommended Courses
  • Boot People Offline
  • Courses
    • All Hacking Courses
    • Cyber Security School
  • CTF
    • Beginners to Advanced Guide
    • Create your own CTF box
    • Field and Resources Guide
    • Platforms & Wargames
    • Tools Used for Solving CTF
    • Writeups
  • Dark Web
    • Beginners Guide
    • Darknet Markets
    • Darkweb 101 (Anonymity Guide)
    • Dark Web OSINT Tools
    • Hacking Forums
    • Latest News
    • Onion Links
  • Hacker Gadgets
  • Hacking Books
  • Tools Directory
Search
Close
  • Home
  • 2019
  • November
  • 6
  • Los Angeles man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drugs on the Dark Web

Los Angeles man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drugs on the Dark Web

November 6, 2019 Comments Off on Los Angeles man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drugs on the Dark Web
Los Angeles man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drugs on the Dark Web

Christopher Michael Barnes, 36, of Los Angeles admitted that he was involved in the conspiracy to distribute drugs via the dark web vendor account “HumboldtFarms”. Barnes and his co-conspirators reportedly sold drugs through the “HumboldtFarms” vendor’s account from March 2015 to July 2017.

According to an announcement by U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, Barnes had partnered with William James Farber, Bryan Anthony Lemons, Michael Angelo Palma, Richard Thomas Martinsen, Michele Pickerell, and Faysal Alkhayat. The group used the dark web vendor account on the now-defunct AlphaBay marketplace to sell Marijuana to users from all over the U.S.

Barnes and his co-conspirators reportedly completed more than 78,000 marijuana orders and, in the process, made “HumboldtFarms” one of the largest vendors on AlpahaBay. To service the orders some of the ring members used Pickerell’s residence to prepare and mail more than 1,000 marijuana packages per week. The sales reportedly earned the ring at least $7 million in bitcoin that they exchanged for cash through unlicensed bitcoin exchanges.

The investigations that led to Barnes’ arrest and guilty plea began as a look into the money laundering activities of Barnes’ co-conspirator Farber. According to the criminal complaint, the investigations revealed that Farber and the other members of the ring were behind the “Purefiremeds” vendor account on the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace. This revelation was made after the investigators looking into Farber’s activities linked his transactions and communications to the vendor “Purefiremeds” according to the data seized during Silk Road’s takedown.

A Screenshot of the HumboldtFarms Complaint

The investigators linked “Purefiremeds” to “HumboldtFarms” through a discussion about “HumboldtFarms” on Reddit. One of the users involved in the discussion reportedly said that reports on /r/darknetmarkets claimed that “HumboldtFarms” was operated by the same vendor who used to run “Purefiremeds”.

To tie Farber to “HumboldtFarms” the investigators made an undercover purchase of 7 grams of marijuana for $40 and an additional $7 for USPS priority shipping on February 23, 2017. The drug package was then delivered on March 8, 2017. The package contained 8 grams of marijuana and had a non-existent return address. The investigators liaised with postal employees at the post office from which the package had been sent from. The investigators asked the employees to notify them if someone dropped packages wrapped in the same way to the one, they had received.

Cooperation with the postal employees coupled with surveillance led to the identification of Michael Palma who had dropped 221 drug packages at the post office on March 10, 2017. Further investigations revealed that Palma and Farber were close friends.

Months of further investigations and surveillance connected the rest of the ring members to the “HumboldtFarms” dark web drug distribution conspiracy. Most of Barnes’ co-conspirators including Farber, Lemons, Palma, Martinsen, and Faysal Alkhayat have already pleaded guilty.

Having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession and distribution of controlled substances Barnes will be sentenced on January 27, 2020. Barnes faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Post navigation

Vulnerability prevents the user to using Firefox browser
HomePwn – Swiss Army Knife for Pentesting of IoT Devices

Related Articles

Australian Man Sentenced for Selling Ecstasy on the Darkweb

Australian Man Sentenced for Selling Ecstasy on the Darkweb

- Dark Web News
February 23, 2021
Brave Browser Leaked DNS Queries for Onion Services

Brave Browser Leaked DNS Queries for Onion Services

- Dark Web News
February 21, 2021
A picture of Australian border cops know when there is something suspicious about a stuffed llama.

Australian Border Force Seizes Meth Inside a Stuffed Llama

- Dark Web News
February 18, 2021
hacker gadgets
hacker phone covers

Recent Posts

BugBountyScanner - A Bash Script And Docker Image For Bug Bounty Reconnaissance

BugBountyScanner – A Bash Script And Docker Image For Bug Bounty Reconnaissance

February 24, 2021
CVE-2021-21972

CVE-2021-21972, CVE-2021-21974: VMware vCenter Server and ESXI Vulnerabilities Alert

February 24, 2021
onionshare v2.3.1 releases: Securely and anonymously share file

onionshare v2.3.1 releases: Securely and anonymously share file

February 24, 2021
conjur

conjur v1.11.3 releases: secures secrets used by privileged users and machine identities

February 24, 2021
HaE: BurpSuite Highlighter and Extractor

HaE – BurpSuite Highlighter And Extractor

February 23, 2021
Australian Man Sentenced for Selling Ecstasy on the Darkweb

Australian Man Sentenced for Selling Ecstasy on the Darkweb

February 23, 2021

Social Media Hacking

SocialPath – Track users across Social Media Platforms

SocialPath – Track users across Social Media Platforms

- Social Media Hacking
October 16, 2019October 16, 2019

SocialPath is a django application for gathering social media intelligence on specific username. It checks for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit...

SocialScan – Check Email Address and Username Availability on Online Platforms

SocialScan – Check Email Address and Username Availability on Online Platforms

June 17, 2019
Shellphish – Phishing Tool For 18 Social Media Apps

Shellphish – Phishing Tool For 18 Social Media Apps

June 10, 2019July 27, 2019
WhatsApp Hacking using QRLJacking

WhatsApp Hacking using QRLJacking

May 2, 2019May 19, 2019
How to Hack any Facebook Account with Z-Shadow

How to Hack any Facebook Account with Z-Shadow

April 26, 2019June 29, 2020
hacker buffs
ABOUT US

Haxf4rall is a collective, a good starting point and provides a variety of quality material for cyber security professionals.

Our primary focus revolves around the latest tools released in the Infosec community and provide a platform for developers to showcase their skillset and current projects.

COMPANY
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Hacker Gadgets
  • LANC Remastered
  • PCPS IP Puller
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Submit your Tool
Menu
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Hacker Gadgets
  • LANC Remastered
  • PCPS IP Puller
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Submit your Tool
Live Chat
RESOURCES
  • Attack Process
  • Become a Hacker
  • Career Pathways
  • Dark Web
  • Hacking Books
  • Practice Your Skills
  • Recommended Courses
  • Simple Setup – Hacker 101
Menu
  • Attack Process
  • Become a Hacker
  • Career Pathways
  • Dark Web
  • Hacking Books
  • Practice Your Skills
  • Recommended Courses
  • Simple Setup – Hacker 101
Get Started
TOOLBOX
  • Anonymity
  • Bruteforce
  • DoS – Denial of Service
  • Information Gathering
  • Phishing
  • SQL Injection
  • Vulnerability Scanners
  • Wifi Hacking
Menu
  • Anonymity
  • Bruteforce
  • DoS – Denial of Service
  • Information Gathering
  • Phishing
  • SQL Injection
  • Vulnerability Scanners
  • Wifi Hacking
Tools Directory

2014 – 2020 | Haxf4rall.com               Stay Connected:

Facebook
Twitter
Google-plus
Wordpress
Please wait...

Join Our Community

Subscribe now and get your free HACKERS HANDBOOK

Don't Worry ! You will not be spammed
SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER NOW