Incognito Market Operator Sentenced to 30 Years for Darknet Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
A U.S. federal court sentenced Rui-Siang Lin (24), a Taiwanese national accused of operating the dark web narcotics marketplace Incognito Market, to 30 years in prison for conspiring to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and conspiring to sell adulterated/misbranded medication. Prosecutors said Lin ran the marketplace under the alias “Pharaoh” and oversaw more than $105 million in narcotics sales, including large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine and pills purported to be oxycodone, some allegedly laced with fentanyl; the sentence also included five years of supervised release and forfeiture of more than $105 million.
Authorities described Incognito Market as a large-scale, “polished” online drug marketplace that supported cryptocurrency payments (including an internal payment mechanism described as “Incognito Bank”) and charged vendors a 5% commission. Reporting cited platform scale estimates of roughly 1,800 vendors, 400,000+ customer accounts, and ~640,000 transactions, with Lin exercising ultimate control over operations while living abroad (including in St. Lucia) and shutting the site down in March 2024; Lin was arrested in May 2024 after arriving at JFK Airport en route to Singapore and pleaded guilty in December 2024. Investigators also obtained warrants (reported as in 2022 and 2023) to access servers supporting marketplace operations, including transaction data, DDoS protection, and cryptocurrency processing.
Timeline
Feb 4, 2026
U.S. court sentences Lin to 30 years and orders $105 million forfeiture
On February 4, 2026, Lin was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for operating Incognito Market and ordered to forfeit roughly $105 million. The court also imposed five years of supervised release, and the judge described the case as among the most serious drug crimes she had seen.
Dec 1, 2024
Rui-Siang Lin pleads guilty to narcotics and money laundering charges
In December 2024, Lin pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to narcotics distribution conspiracy, money laundering, and conspiracy to sell adulterated and misbranded medication. The case involved sales of fentanyl-laced pills marketed as oxycodone and other narcotics sold through Incognito Market.
Mar 1, 2024
Incognito Market shuts down and Lin allegedly extorts users
In March 2024, Incognito Market was shut down after facilitating more than $105 million in drug sales. Prosecutors said Lin then stole at least $1 million from buyers and attempted to extort vendors and customers by threatening to release transaction histories and cryptocurrency addresses.
Jan 1, 2023
Authorities obtain search warrants targeting market infrastructure
In 2023, law enforcement obtained warrants to access servers used to host Incognito Market, mitigate DDoS attacks, and process cryptocurrency transactions. These investigative steps helped authorities gather evidence on the marketplace’s operations.
Jan 1, 2022
FBI launches undercover investigation into Incognito Market
The FBI began investigating Incognito Market in 2022, including undercover drug purchases on the site. Investigators later used operational security mistakes involving cryptocurrency wallets and domain records to attribute administration of the market to Lin.
Oct 1, 2020
Incognito Market begins operating under Rui-Siang Lin
U.S. prosecutors said Rui-Siang Lin, using the alias “Pharaoh,” operated the Incognito Market darknet narcotics marketplace beginning in October 2020. The platform later grew to thousands of vendors and hundreds of thousands of customer accounts.
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