An Iraqi drug dealer was sentenced yesterday in San Antonio, Texas, to 30 years in federal prisonfor selling various narcotics in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Alaa Mohammed Allawi, 30, allegedly sold 245 kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone and Xanax via the Dark Web. It is believed that he sold over 850,000 pills on the Dark Web and was paid in cryptocurrency.
According to the statement issued by the court, the drugs sold by Allawi led to the death of a US sailor due to an overdose and the serious physical injury of two North Dakota residents.
In addition to the prison sentence, Allawi also loses his home, valued at $270,000, five firearms, $28,000 in U.S. currency, $31,000 in jewelry, four vehicles, more than $21,000 in cryptocurrency, and all of his rights to a coffee shop in California, in which he was a partner.
While it is not stated which digital currency was used for the transactions, US attorney John F Bash said that Allawi and his associates tried to conceal their activity by using the dark web and seven different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Allawi is said to have arrived in the US from Iraq in 2012, on an SQ1 visa granted based on his position as a Department of Defense interpreter while in Iraq.
Allawi pleaded guilty and testified that he bought fentanyl and pills from the most notorious illegal shopping site on the Dark Web, AlphaBay. He then began trading the drugs in 2015, accepting seven different digital currencies for payment.
This is believed to be the first case of fentanyl distribution using the Dark Web and transacting in cryptocurrency in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force’s Southern region. It’s certainly not the first in the US.
Earlier this year, another dealer lost $4 million in Bitcoin after being caught selling drugs on the Dark Web.
