NarcoBoss Fentanyl Vendor Given Life Sentence

He used to be America’s top Darknet fentanyl vendor; now, he’s facing life in prison for his crimes.

Meet Henry “NarcoBoss” Koffie, the darknet vendor from AlphaBay who distributed drugs that led to atleast two deaths and three overdoses. After a multiple-year trial, the ex-drug vendor will finally receive his verdict on May 30th. 

How To Capture A Darknet Vendor: 101

The first sign of Koffie goes back to 2016 when the Pennsylvanian shipped a fentanyl heroin mix to a drug dealer in Portland. This particular drug dealer was captured after a 19-year-old student at Portland State University overdosed but was resuscitated. The student exposed the dealer, and the dealer admitted to purchasing the “furanyl fentany” from DNMKingpin on AlphaBay.

There weren’t any further investigations until about a year later. In May 2017, two Portland residents (Both 27 years old) overdosed and died. The one victim’s roommate explained that the victim purchased the drugs from Narcoboss on AlphaBay and had advertised the furanyl fentanyl as “China White”. He also explained that the drugs arrived in a priority mail envelope from USPS.

The other victim had a notebook containing information on his Bitcoin wallet and AlphaBay login details. Investigators managed to link the two cases together and opted for a full-out mission to take down “NarcoBoss.”

According to the report, The FBI, HSI, USPIS, and PPB worked together on the case and conducted five controlled buys from the darknet vendor from Alphabay. Here they gathered information on the suspect, figuring out he was from Philadelphia. At the same time, investigators found packages with Fentanyl in them and matched the fingerprints to that of Koffie, creating a clear link between the two. 

Needing more evidence before arresting the Pennsylvanian investigators found that Koffie had received his fentanyl from Hong Kong and China over the last year. On his next package, the USPS intercepted and found a half kilogram of furanyl fentanyl hiding within. This gave investigators enough evidence to arrest Koffie for his crimes.

The fentanyl mix “China White” that Koffie distributed was an extremely potent strain that was at least 50X stronger than heroin. Although those closest to him were unaware of Koffies misdeeds, the man was not afraid to flaunt his success in the business. On Facebook, Koffie described himself as a professional entrepreneur from Southwest Philadelphia and consistently flaunted images with him holding fat stacks of cash. 

During his time as NarcoBoss, he fulfilled atleast 3,700 orders through AlphaBay. In total, he sold 7 KGs of fentanyl and accumulated over $280,000 worth of Bitcoin.

In August 2017, the FBI issued a warrant for arrest; on his laptop, the FBI found further information for to use against Koffie in a court of law, and he received a “criminal complaint in the District of Oregon with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury or death.”

In an emotional statement regarding the matter, Steven T. Mygrant, Chief of the Narcotics and Criminal Enterprises Unit in the US, explained that “Henry Koffie sold illicit fentanyl analogues on the darknet, exploiting profits while risking the lives of many Americans addicted to dangerous opioids. Today, fentanyl can be purchased for less than a few dollars in many American cities. The mass availability of fentanyl in our country is staggering and represents a profound public safety and health threat. We in law enforcement will continue doing our part to hold fentanyl dealers like Henry Koffie accountable, but we implore all community members to be vigilant in protecting themselves and their loved ones. If you possess pills not dispensed by a licensed pharmacist, assume they are fake and contain a deadly dose of fentanyl.”

This comes at a time when the US has made it publicly known that fentanyl is on their top priority list.

One gentleman from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) threatened the current darknet market vendors saying, “Using the darknet does not provide anonymity. HSI special agents are highly skilled in conducting investigations that involve darknet markets, cryptocurrency transactions, and other illicit online activities.”

There is good reason for darknet markets to remove all Fentanyl listings, the drug is simply too easy to overdose on, and nobody likes to have blood on their hands. As for Koffie, according to the report, he will look at a maximum sentence of life in prison as well as a $10 million fine. His final court date is set for May 30th.

Some charges against him include:

• Four counts of indictment charged to Koffie with four counts of distributing furanyl fentanyl.
• One counts each of distributing a controlled substance and distributing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a playground.
• One count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury
• Two counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death
• A further five counts of distribution of a controlled substance.

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