A federal judge in New York has sentenced the founder of Incognito Market, a cryptocurrency-based dark web marketplace, to 30 years in prison for operating a global narcotics operation that prosecutors say generated more than $105 million in illegal drug sales.
Rui-Siang Lin, 24, who ran the platform under the online alias “Pharaoh,” was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. The court also ordered Lin to forfeit $105,045,109 and serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison term, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
A crypto-enabled drug marketplace
Incognito Market launched in October 2020 and operated until March 2024, relying heavily on cryptocurrency to facilitate anonymous transactions. Prosecutors said the platform used an internal payment system known as “Incognito Bank,” which allowed users to deposit digital assets into on-site accounts. Funds were transferred between buyers and sellers once a transaction was completed, with the platform collecting a 5 percent commission.
This structure, authorities said, enabled large-scale anonymous trading of illicit drugs. At its peak, Incognito Market had more than 400,000 buyer accounts and over 1,800 vendors, processing more than 640,000 crypto-based transactions worldwide.
Court documents show that the marketplace sold more than one ton of illegal drugs during its operation. Substances available for sale included heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, alprazolam, and oxycodone. Prosecutors said sales volumes included more than 1,000 kilograms each of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Expansion into high-risk substances
In January 2022, Lin announced that vendors would be allowed to sell opiates, a move prosecutors say significantly expanded the platform’s reach and risk. Listings soon included pills marketed as prescription medications, some of which were later found to contain fentanyl.
Evidence cited by prosecutors links the platform to at least one fatal overdose. In September 2022, a 27-year-old man in Arkansas died after ingesting pills sold as oxycodone on Incognito Market that testing showed contained fentanyl. Authorities said the broader operation harmed more than 470,000 drug users and their families.
Lin pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and conspiring to sell adulterated medication. During sentencing, Judge McMahon described Lin as having become a “drug kingpin” and called the case the most serious drug crime she had encountered in more than 27 years on the bench.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Lin made millions by exploiting the anonymity of cryptocurrency, calling the consequences of the operation “devastating.”
Shutdown and alleged extortion
When Incognito Market shut down in March 2024, prosecutors said Lin took at least $1 million in user deposits. Authorities also allege that he attempted to extort users by demanding additional payments while threatening to publish transaction histories and crypto addresses. In one message to users, Lin explicitly described the demand as extortion, according to court filings.
Part of a broader enforcement push
The sentencing comes amid a series of high-profile law enforcement actions targeting crypto-enabled illicit activity. Days earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice finalized the forfeiture of more than $400 million linked to Helix, a darknet crypto mixer used to launder illicit funds. Helix operator Larry Dean Harmon was sentenced in November 2024 to three years in prison.
Other recent cases include the June 2025 seizure of 145 domains and cryptocurrency tied to BidenCash, a carding marketplace that generated roughly $17 million in revenue, and a November 2023 effort to recover $54 million in cryptocurrency linked to convicted New Jersey drug trafficker Christopher Castelluzzo.
