Three Vancouver Island men are facing multiple charges in connection with a dark web drug-trafficking ring, funded by cryptocurrency.
Kien Trung Pham, Kerry Chang and Gordon Brooks were arrested on Feb. 4, 2020, about a year after police launched an online undercover investigation into an international dark web organized crime group that used the vendor name “AlwaysOverweight.”
The trio is scheduled to appear in Nanaimo provincial court on June 7, police said in a Tuesday news release.
The dark web is accessed through special anonymizing and encryption-enabled browsers that hide the user’s digital footprint.
According to B.C. RCMP, AlwaysOverweight used cryptocurrency and encrypted messaging applications to cover its tracks. Meanwhile, it trafficked illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, oxycodone, MDMA, Xanax, and what it claimed was heroin, but in fact, was fentanyl mixed with cutting agents.
The Mounties’ federal serious and organized crime cybercrime operations group penetrated the criminal entity’s digital barriers and identified a Nanaimo address as the vendor’s physical location. Pham, Chang and Brooks were identified as suspects as the investigation evolved to “street-level drug transactions,” police said.
The day police arrested the suspects, they executed search warrants on two Nanaimo homes and seized a variety of drugs, packaging, mailing envelopes, documents, cash, computers and data storage devices.
Pham was later charged with 11 counts of trafficking a controlled substance and four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. Brooks faces seven counts of both charges, and Chang was charged with one count of trafficking a controlled substance.
“The dark web is just one of the tools that organized crime uses to avoid detection, and so police need to continuously evolve their technical capabilities to stem the flow of toxic drugs into our communities,” Supt. Richard Bergevin said in the release.