A Darkweb dealer received a 16-year federal prison sentence after being captured by the USPS. The dealer in question was the major fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin dealer known as “Syntropy.”
The capture of the fentanyl dealer is another example of the DOJ’s crackdown on fentanyl dealers in the United States.
A Joint Effort (no not that type of joint)
Anton Peck, Kevin Fusco, and Vincent Banner worked together to run their online drug trafficking operation. According to the DOJ Press release, the trio ran the darknet vendor account between May 2021 and May 2022 using multiple darknet marketplaces. However, some evidence points out that the vendor used an alternative name prior to this.
According to the DEA report, on January 20, 2022, USPS investigators found a package that Fusco had sent out containing fentanyl. After gathering intel on Fusco, the team kept close surveillance on him and continued to intercept and seize at least 200 parcels sent out by Fusco. Each parcel contained multitudes of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and ketamine.
Three months later, on March 10, the FBI pulled the plug and handed out multiple search warrants. When he was apprehended, law enforcement officers discovered shipping materials, scales, heat presses, and other drug-making and distribution equipment.
Soon after his capture, Fusco snitched on his co-conspirators. He explained that Peck and Banner had a halfway house back in 2019. Fusco explained that Peck was paying him $2,500 a week to mail the drug packages.
After Fusco’s arrest, the Law Enforcement agents shifted focus to Peck and made undercover purchases from the vendor Syntropy while surveilling Peck. After confirming that Pack was Fusco’s co-conspirator, they intercepted him. This was while Peck was mailing a package and put out warrants to search his possessions.
During their operations, the trio transferred hundreds of orders through the USPS with parcels containing fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. During their capture, the law enforcement agents managed to recover over a dozen KGs of the said drugs in their various storage locations. As their business was a countrywide operation, the trio had storage containers in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and New York City.
It was Peck that led the operation, and he contained the bulk of the narcotics as well as the vendor profile, and cold storage wallets. During a search of Peck’s possessions, law enforcement found a list containing more than 6,000 customers who ordered from darknet vendor Syntropy.
U.S District Judge Makes the Call
On December 1, 2022, Anton “Syntropy” Peck found himself in a pickle when U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced him to a 16-year federal prison sentence for “conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.” Peck pleaded guilty, hoping his prison sentence would be reduced, but the judge showed no remorse.
one of the recent successes of the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement Team (J-CODE).
On November 4, 2022, Fusco received an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty, and Banner is set to be sentenced on February 10, 2023. Banner will likely walk away with another 11-year sentence. Peck will taking the greater punishment of the trio for running the operation.
This will be the DOJ’s ninth darknet fentanyl vendor sentenced this year. The DOJ recently vowed to take further steps targeting any fentanyl dealers as overdose deaths reach a record 75,000. Peck’s case was
Hey there, I’m a dark web geek who’s been around for the last 8 years. More precisely, I’m livedarknet’s senior content writer who’s been writing about darknet marketplaces, tutorials, and cybersecurity stuff for educational purposes.