DETROIT – A Detroit man prosecutors say was the leader of a dark web drug trafficking ring pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute illicit and counterfeit pills.
Victor Hernandez, 30, admitted that he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute illicit substances, a conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, his distribution of counterfeit pills, and the use of firearms in furtherance of the crime.
Prosecutors say investigators investigated for months and found that a dark web vendor site was being operated out of Detroit. The marketplace vendor went by the name “opiateconnect.” The vendor was selling cocaine and various counterfeit drugs. The counterfeit drugs were made to look like alprazolam (Xanax), but were actually research chemicals not for humans to consume.
A search of a home in Detroit found $1,000,000 dollars in cryptocurrency, in excess of $300,000 U.S. Dollars, multiple firearms, an industrial size pill press, industrial mixer, controlled substances including cocaine, and counterfeit drugs.
Hernandez received a plea agreement and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. He pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, which carries a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum of 40 years;
- Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years;
- Dispensing a counterfeit drug, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years;
- Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of five years.
The prosecution was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.