PRESS RELEASE

Current And Former Metropolitan Correctional Center Employees And Inmates Indicted For Bribery, Contraband Smuggling, Narcotics Distribution, And Obstruction Of Justice Offenses

Defendants Include Three Current and Former MCC Employees and Eight Former MCC Inmates Charged with Participating in Wide-Ranging Scheme

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Ryan T. Geach, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General New York Field Office (“DOJ-OIG”), and Frank Russo, Director of Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in New York (“CBP”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging three current or former Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) employees, as well as eight former inmates of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”), of conspiring to smuggle contraband such as drugs, alcohol, and cellphones to inmates at the MCC. Two of the BOP employees were also charged with obstructing justice.  Four of the defendants were arrested today and will be presented before Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave later today.  The additional defendants are already in federal custody and will be presented in this District at a later date.   The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “As alleged, MCC corrections officers Perry Joyner and Mario Feliciano, and MCC unit secretary Sharon Griffith-McKnight, undermined the institution they swore to serve by conspiring with the very inmates they are charged to protect by smuggling contraband into the MCC and, in the case of Joyner and Griffith-McKnight, by obstructing the pursuit of justice.  This Office is committed to rooting out corruption in our jails and prisons.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said:  “Federal law enforcement officers take an oath to defend the laws of the United States and protect its citizens. We allege the guards we've arrested today acted like nothing more than the criminals in their charge and assisted incarcerated offenders in committing more crimes. Our FBI/NYPD Joint Violent Crimes Task Force is working with our partners to root out the corruption we've uncovered; they will find everyone who should be held accountable for their blatant disregard for the law.”

DOJ-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Ryan T. Geach said:  “The defendants allegedly engaged in an extensive scheme to introduce dangerous contraband into MCC New York, threatening the safety and security of the institution, inmates, staff, and the public.”

CBP Director of Field Operations Frank Russo said: “As public servants, we are naturally held to a higher standard of conduct and subject to the same laws and rules that apply to private citizens. CBP will fully assist the Department of Justice in any and all investigations involving alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel, including cases that involve conduct which occurred prior to employment with CBP.”

The defendants participated in an extensive scheme involving bribery and smuggling of contraband, and the distribution of contraband within the MCC.  The defendants include two current employees of the BOP, PERRY JOYNER and SHARON GRIFFITH-MCKNIGHT, and one former employee of the BOP, MARIO FELICIANO, as well as eight former MCC inmates: DONNELL MURRAY, a/k/a “Don P,” MARKEEN JORDAN, a/k/a “Kingo,” ANTHONY ELLISON, a/k/a “Harv,” TYRELL SUMPTER, a/k/a “Rell,” KEVIN CROSBY, a/k/a “Sama,” DAVID VALERIO, a/k/a “Santana,” a/k/a “Bando,” VIRGILIO ACEVEDO DE LOS SANTOS, a/k/a “Jairo Taveras,” a/k/a “Junior,” and STARLIN NUNEZ, a/k/a “Chino,” a/k/a “Junior.”

The contraband that JOYNER, FELICIANO, and GRIFFITH-MCKNIGHT smuggled into the MCC included controlled substances, cellphones, alcohol, and cigarettes.  For their efforts, JOYNER and FELICIANO agreed to receive, and did receive, bribes from the inmate-defendants.

During the course of the scheme, in an effort to obtain a lesser sentence for ELLISON, GRIFFITH-MCKNIGHT submitted a letter to the District Judge responsible for sentencing inmate and co-defendant ELLISON that falsely described ELLISON as a “model inmate” even though at the time GRIFFITH-MCKNIGHT was smuggling contraband to ELLISON and therefore knew he was anything but a “model inmate.”  Relying on this letter from GRIFFITH-MCKNIGHT, the District Judge who presided over ELLISON’s sentencing remarked that ELLISON’s purported good behavior in prison was “impressive” and that “[u]nless this is some sort of Grisham novel, and people are all corrupt and making all of this up about [ELLISON], it seems to me that it’s unavoidable that [ELLISON’s] trajectory at the MCC contains a lot of good.”

JOYNER obstructed justice by intimidating and threatening an inmate—an inmate that JOYNER was charged with protecting—whom JOYNER believed was providing the Government with information about JOYNER’s participation in the charged scheme.        

*                *                *

A chart containing the names, charges, and maximum penalties for the defendants is set forth below.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge assigned to each case.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI, DOJ OIG, Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and CBP.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption and Narcotics Units.  Assistant United States Attorneys Aline R. Flodr, Jonathan E. Rebold, and Daniel H. Wolf are in charge of the prosecution. 

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source : FBI
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Intimidation is an outburst of human aggression to resolve matters without having regards to the rule of law. 
This always happens in an environment of that is not orderly perhaps due to the weakness of the leader or the failure to apply the rules of law in the power dispensation.
Cases of intimidation,most of the times,may create an environment of fear in the individual or people been intimidated.
Chains of reaction arising from this, may result in anarchy or a state of chaos leading to a breakdown of law and order.
This is the reason why the issue of intimidation must be addressed with all seriousness.
Aspirants for leadership positions must also be sensitized on how best to control their temperament and the effective use of the rule of law to resolve issues.
Basically,leaders must embrace management by equity and administration by justice to avoid the possible feeling of being cheated or marginalized in order that no one would be tempted into intimidating others.
Intimidation may come from persons given positions of authority they are not competent to occupy.Leaders by their nature always want to be respected with their views being implemented by their subjects without delay or hindrance.

However,when policies are rolled out but considered not feasible due to the poverty of ideas of the leader,people are bound to resist such order.
This may warrant the leader to exercise wrongly his executive power through intimidation.
This kind of action exposes the weaknesses and limitations of such a leader making him or her to be vulnerable to serious agitations which may ultimately cause chaos and eventual stalemate in development or if the situation is not properly controlled, it may lead to the eventual removal of the leader.
Poor governance in several nations have degenerated the fabric of discipline to the point of lack of peaceful co-existence.
In such a nation, characteristics factors of intimidation would manifests blackmail that usually create fear of possible shame and the loss of goodwill.
When this is not properly controlled further intimidation would follow to make sudden wealth,while those who intimidate enjoy illegally acquired money, the victims become indebted or sickly.
In summary,therefore,intimidation in all forms and ramifications as a process of discouraging or restraining fellow human beings from acting by threats,blackmail or violence must be guided against grooming the people to respect the rule of law in resolving issues as well giving due regards to the fundamental human rights of others for the purpose of enhancing peaceful co-existence.

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An official report in Great Britain in 1818 described the overall outcome of education of all sorts in this period as a'' lamentable deficiency'' in education for the poor.
Even though the voluntary effort was restricted to the towns, the country districts constituted wells of ignorance.
It is to be noted that some districts in London had half of their population in the category of stark illiterates.
Sadly, this is the situation in most states in Nigeria today. The vice of ignorance is now a dangerous threat to public order.
The deliberate creation of the uneducated by the government at all levels is now the basis for misrule and poor governance.
Political reasons for the deteriorated standards of education are visible everywhere in the country, even as political concessions have overwhelmed educational opportunities.
The government discrimination at all levels, in public-owned educational institutions, has ensured that indigent children must be held responsible for their poverty, while the elite determines the happenings in the private-owned institutions with the aid of their wealth from known and unknown sources.
According to John Stuart Mill, ''Education provided by the public must be education for all, and to be education for all it must be purely secular education. '' This is, however, not the case in Nigeria.
Of great worry is the fact that the country is in urgent need of suitably qualified and efficient teachers.
Sadly, those available have, over time, displayed and exhibited little talent and questionable culture. Those in charge of quality assurance also fall within the range.
The vicissitudes and challenges of life in several cities and towns have coarse and degraded many sections of the population to the extent that manners and culture have deteriorated rapidly.
Indeed, most of the products of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary levels of education are living examples to conclude that little or nothing was learned in these citadels of learning. This is disturbing.

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There is an urgent need for religious leaders to realize that they are susceptible to people's casts of doubt and aspersion on the way they run the affairs of our religious systems. This is because acquisition is necessary for an environment of doubt(where devilish things occur incessantly without control, even under the roof of very many people and the houses of God in particular).

The Holy Bible in Mark 3: 22-29 refers, ''22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

24And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26And if Satan rises up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

27No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:''

In the same vein, in the Holy Quran 22: 52 the Almighty God asserted that all holy prophets experienced the envious attacks of satan, but for their scripture compliance, it was possible for them to enjoy timely divine intervention, to be able to successfully deliver the message of God without hindrance.

The Holy Quran 16: 97-100, harps on the premise upon which satanic interference can take place but overcome.

'' Whoever, works righteousness, man or woman and has faith, verily to him will We give a life that is good and pure, and we will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions when thou dost read the Quran(the scripture), seek Allah's protection from Satan, the Rejected One. No authority as he(satan) over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. His authority is over those only, who take Him as patron and who join partners with Allah.''

It is, therefore, left to I and you to stand aright in our faith to enjoy divine strengthing, or we live waywardly or frivolous lives that constitute the path to destruction.

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Colombian Drug Kingpin and Paramilitary Leader Pleads Guilty to Operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Daniel Rendon Herrera, also known as “Don Mario,” a citizen of Colombia, pleaded guilty to engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.  The proceeding took place before United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry.  When sentenced, Rendon Herrera faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to life imprisonment, as well as forfeiture in excess of $45 million and a fine of up to $2.25 million. 

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Ray Donovan, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA); Rick J. Patel, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI); Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Kevin P. Bruen, Superintendent, New York State Police (NYSP), announced the guilty plea.

“With today’s guilty plea, Rendon Herrera, who was once the most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia, admitted to leading one of the world’s largest and most violent drug cartels and flooding the streets of America with cocaine.  Rendon Herrera also admitted to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization that brutally killed, kidnapped, and tortured rival drug traffickers and civilians.” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “I commend the determined efforts of countless members of law enforcement, foreign and domestic, who brought the defendant to justice.”

“By his admission, Daniel Rendon Herrera was a leader of a brutal and murderous narco-terrorist organization in Colombia, and he trafficked more than 80 tons of cocaine,” stated United States Attorney Williams.  “Rendon Herrera oversaw operations of a paramilitary cartel that carried out kidnappings, torture, and murders.  Now, through the combined efforts of law enforcement officers and prosecutors, Rendon Herrera awaits sentencing for his crimes.”

“Don Mario’s guilty plea has left footprints for other drug kingpins to follow,” stated DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Donovan.  “This notorious founder and leader of Clan Usaga is facing the consequences of his billion-dollar cocaine empire that spread fear, drug addiction, and death throughout Colombia and the United States.  I commend the law enforcement alliance that has worked for years to bring Rendon Herrera to justice.”  

“Rendon Herrera, one of Colombia’s most prominent and feared drug kingpins and once the leader of the narco-terrorist Los Urabenos Drug Trafficking Organization, committed heinous crimes in pursuit of power and profit. This plea demonstrates HSI and its law enforcement partners’ commitment to disrupting and dismantling the criminal organizations responsible for the dangerous narcotics flooding our streets. We will continue to pursue these organizations at the highest levels, both at home and abroad, and put an end to the terror that they generate across the world.” stated HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Patel.

“All roads travelled by international drug cartels seem to lead straight to our cities, where their members poison our neighbors and wreak deadly havoc. In this case, Mr. Herrera admits to supporting designated terrorists as they kidnapped, tortured, and murdered people so he could build his power and wealth. Our pursuit of these groups won't wane with his guilty plea today. Even now, we are on to the next leader who most likely believes he won't suffer the same fate,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

“Our NYPD investigators work tirelessly to avert narcotics, terrorism and threats from the kind of violent, overseas criminal enterprises that this long term investigation has dismantled. I commend our officers, our law enforcement partners and the prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for their public service to all New Yorkers in achieving today’s guilty plea,” stated NYPD Commissioner Shea.

According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, the guilty plea stems from Rendon Herrera’s role, since the late 1990’s, as a leader of the designated foreign terrorist organization, the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), and as founder and leader of Los Urabeños Drug Trafficking Organization (the Urabeños, also referred to as Clan Usuga and Clan del Golfo), effectively the successor organization to the AUC. 

The AUC, founded in 1997, was a Colombian paramilitary and drug-trafficking organization, designated in 2001 by the United States Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially-Designated Global Terrorism Organization.  The AUC engaged in armed conflict with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s main guerilla group, and sought to remove FARC sympathizers from positions of power and influence in Colombia.  To support its political and terrorist objectives, the AUC imposed “taxes” on cocaine trafficked through AUC-controlled areas and engaged in violent attacks including murders and kidnappings.  By 2006, many members of the AUC demobilized as part of the Colombian government’s Justice and Peace process – a process under which paramilitary members surrender to the Colombian government and relinquish their criminally-derived assets in exchange for reduced sentences and amnesty from extradition.  Rather than submit to the peace process, Rendon Herrera re-mobilized the AUC as the Urabeños.

The Urabeños, like the AUC, continued to finance their paramilitary and drug trafficking by imposing a “tax” on multi-ton shipments of cocaine that transited through areas in Colombia controlled by the organization and were ultimately destined for importation into the United States.  The Urabeños employed “sicarios,” or hitmen, who carried out various acts of violence, including murders, assaults, kidnappings and assassinations to collect drug debts, maintain discipline, control and expand drug territory, and to promote and enhance the prestige, reputation, and position of the organization.  In 2009, when Rendon Herrera was captured by the Colombian National Police, he commanded 16 “bloques,” or territories, across Colombia and thousands of armed paramilitary fighters.

In connection with his plea, Rendon Herrera accepted responsibility for trafficking at least 73,645 kilograms of cocaine.  The charges relating to the AUC were initially filed in the Southern District of New York and transferred to the Eastern District of New York for the consolidated plea.  The charges relating to the Urabeños originated in the Eastern District of New York.  Additionally, since 2009, Rendon Herrera has been designated by the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.  Rendon Herrera is also wanted to serve sentences for convictions in the Republic of Colombia relating to numerous homicides, weapons, and narcotics trafficking, which remain pending his service of his sentence in the United States.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan P. Lax, Francisco J. Navarro, and Andrew D. Grubin are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Li of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Elisabeth Poteat of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs handled the extradition in this matter and the Department of Justice Judicial Attaché’s Office was instrumental in supporting the case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The Defendant:

DANIEL RENDON HERRERA (also known as “Don Mario”)
Age: 56
Antioquia, Colombia

Source : FBI

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Over the ages, absolute power was discovered to corrupt absolutely, similarly, absolute freedom could as well lead an individual astray through its overbearing nature with tendencies to become overbearing. This usually manifests in the patriarchal setting wherein women's rights are most of the time trampled upon. This is why gender mainstreaming becomes an issue to promote inclusiveness for a better world order where stigmatization and marginalization shall be completely absent.
Curtailed freedom becomes an issue of abuse if the searchlight is on probing the activities of the slave trade experience.
In this light, freedom, and independence have a direct correlation through which a nation can be assessed. Nations, where corruption and institutional indiscipline thrive, will ever depend on foreign services through loans and debts by successive governments. This would bring in its wake political instability as a result of poverty and its attendant consequences such as armed robbery, ritual killings, insurgency, pickpocketing, terrorism among several others. 

The essence of child-rearing and natural nurturing through formal and informal education to the point of adulthood for maturity, professionalism for the right career. The child is given the opportunity to enjoy freedom and independence to be able to be a change agent or a game-changer in the scheme of transforming progressively.
Any nation that fails to develop the youth in the right way will ever deny them the right to freedom and independence with the consequence of lagging behind in the committee of nations and a much dire consequence on its people not being able to cope in the world of global competitiveness.    
In the final analysis, freedom as a primary condition of enjoying civil liberty must be the behavioral objective of culture, education, and religious exercises for political gladiators to emerge in a society where freedom is sacrosanct for the right and accelerated development.

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In early Victorian Britain, health and cleanliness were visible challenges in the slums.
The outbreak of cholera in 1832 and 1837  prompted the Government to probe the causes of the fever.
In 1838, three medical experts-Dr. Southwood-Smith, Dr. Arnott, and Dr, Kay-submitted Reports anchored on the physical causes of Cholera fever in London. This included Dr. Southwood-Smith's worrisome account of the slums of Bethnal Green and White chapel.
Indeed, the above mentioned and others-the Report of the Health Towns Committee published in 1840 and the Report by the Poor LawCommission, authored by Edwin Chadwick and published in 1842-the Report on an Inquiry into the sanitary condition of the laboring population of Great Britain, in addition to the Royal Commission which also compiled Reports in 1844 and 1845 revealed that although Britain was blazing the trail in the world in industrial development, living conditions of its citizens were in a terrible and poor state, with typhoid fever wreaking havoc among the populace.
Interestingly, major cities and towns in Nigeria presently are very dirty and overcrowded, while estate developers ignore the rules and regulations guiding the erection of structures.
Several homes and shops are constructed in the smallest space with inferior materials and active connivance of government officials.
The dirty habits of the people and absence of facilities for environmental sanitation have converted these cities and towns to poisonous dens of filth and disease, where refuse habitations include streets, drainages, roads, and residential premises.
The poor state of septic tanks in homes, badly constructed drainages, lack of potable water, and poor environmental sanitation practices among the people have exposed the nonchalant population to various diseases including Cholera.
Of note is the fact that residents and occupants of No. 5 Kehinde Aderibigbes Street, Olorunsogo, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, not only vandalized the next building, No. 3 but also converted it to a refuse dump and place where excreta is also dumped.
Government officials have long before now admitted the evil, but blame their superiors for the public health situation.

Those-in Chrage at all levels of government look on helplessly as the people contend with the hazards of a dirty environment.

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The demand of God from man is to identify the variables that are the determining factors for the realization of body preservation from sins, crimes, and soul purification from devilish thoughts.

The Holy Bible, Mark 7: 17-23 refers, ''And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within and defile the man.''

Let us take an in-depth look into our ways of life, so as to be able to work on the weak areas for us to be wholesome in our religious practice. This will enable us to achieve a perfect God/man relationship that would set us free from the clutches of satan.

The Holy Quran 7: 157 offers us effective solutions for ease of achieving body preservation from sins and crimes as well as soul purification from devilish thought processes considering the four variables that characterize our behaviors and attitudes in life.

1)Role modeling what is just.

2)Forbidding what is evil.

3) Consider what is lawful as good and pure only.

4) Prohibit what is bad and impure.

The goal is to avoid frictions in our social interactions as well as to be vulnerable to poison through food and drinks.

Divine promise for those who can with the fear of God observe the four articles of faith above is a free offer from God as a favor and reward of just worship or been scripture compliant: Releases them from the yokes that are upon them. Be wise.

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International Law Enforcement Operation Targeting Opioid Traffickers on the Darknet Results in 150 Arrests Worldwide and the Seizure of Weapons, Drugs, and over $31 Million

Darknet Narcotics Vendors Selling to Tens of Thousands of U.S. Residents Charged

Today, the Department of Justice, through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined Europol to announce the results of Operation Dark HunTor, a coordinated international effort on three continents to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet. The operation, which was conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, was a result of the continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation Dark HunTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation DisrupTor and the coordinated law enforcement takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then-largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet. At the time, German authorities arrested the marketplace’s alleged operator and seized the site’s infrastructure, providing investigators across the world with a trove of evidence. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and JCODE have since been compiling intelligence packages to identify key targets.

Following the DarkMarket takedown in January 2021, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies identified Darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of complementary, but separate, law enforcement investigations. Operation Dark HunTor actions have resulted in the arrest of 150 alleged Darknet drug traffickers and other criminals who engaged in tens of thousands of sales of illicit goods and services across Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Prior to, but in support of Operation Dark HunTor, Italian authorities also shut down the DeepSea and Berlusconi dark web marketplaces which boasted over 40,000 advertisements of illegal products. Four alleged administrators were arrested, and €3.6 million in cryptocurrencies were seized in coordinated U.S.-Italian operations.

Operation Dark HunTor resulted in the seizure of over $31.6 million in both cash and virtual currencies; approximately 234 kilograms (kg) of drugs worldwide including 152.1 kg of amphetamine, 21.6 kg of cocaine, 26.9 kg of opioids, 32.5 kg of MDMA, in addition to more than 200,000 ecstasy, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methamphetamine pills, and counterfeit medicine ; and 45 firearms. Darknet vendor accounts were also identified and attributed to real individuals selling illicit goods on active marketplaces, as well as inactive Darknet marketplaces such as Dream, WallStreet, White House, DeepSea, and Dark Market.

Operation Dark HunTor led to 65 arrests in the United States, one in Bulgaria, three in France, 47 in Germany, four in the Netherlands, 24 in the United Kingdom, four in Italy, and two in Switzerland. A number of investigations are still ongoing.

“This 10-month massive international law enforcement operation spanned across three continents and involved dozens of U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to send one clear message to those hiding on the Darknet peddling illegal drugs: there is no dark internet. We can and we will shine a light,” said Deputy Attorney General Monaco. “Operation Dark HunTor prevented countless lives from being lost to this dangerous trade in illicit and counterfeit drugs, because one pill can kill. The Department of Justice with our international partners will continue to crack down on lethal counterfeit opioids purchased on the Darknet.”

“The men and women of the department’s Criminal Division, in close collaboration with our team of interagency and international partners, stand ready to leverage all our resources to protect our communities through the pursuit of those who profit from addiction, under the false belief that they are anonymous on the Darknet,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Only through a whole of government and, in this case, global approach to tackling cyber-enabled drug trafficking can we hope to achieve the significant results illustrated in Operation Dark HunTor.”

“The FBI continues to identify and bring to justice drug dealers who believe they can hide their illegal activity through the Darknet,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “Criminal darknet markets exist so drug dealers can profit at the expense of others’ safety. The FBI is committed to working with our JCODE and EUROPOL law enforcement partners to disrupt those markets and the borderless, worldwide trade in illicit drugs they enable.”

“Today, we face new and increasingly dangerous threats as drug traffickers expand into the digital world and use the Darknet to sell dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “These drug traffickers are flooding the United States with deadly, fake pills, driving the U.S. overdose crisis, spurring violence, and threatening the safety and health of American communities. DEA’s message today is clear: criminal drug networks operating on the Darknet, trying to hide from law enforcement, can no longer hide. DEA, the U.S. interagency, and our valued international partners, are committed to dismantling drug networks wherever they are, including on the Darknet.”

“Illicit darkweb marketplaces represent a significant threat to public health, economic, and national security,” said Acting Director Tae Johnson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “By working collaboratively and sharing intelligence across local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and its partners are disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations responsible for introducing dangerous narcotics and other contraband into our communities.”  

“The dark web has become an underground facilitator of illegal commerce,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). “Criminals use the dark web to sell and ship narcotics and other dangerous goods around the world, often relying on the postal system and private carriers to deliver these illegal products. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to finding and stopping these drug traffickers.”

“The Darknet no longer provides a concealing cloak for criminals to operate,” said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Jim Lee. “The expertise of our agents and law enforcement partners helped uncover significant quantities of narcotics and money — both cash and virtual currency — derived from illicit means.”

“The point of operations such as the one today is to put criminals operating on the dark web on notice: the law enforcement community has the means and global partnerships to unmask them and hold them accountable for their illegal activities, even in areas of the dark web,” said Europol’s Deputy Executive Director of Operations Jean-Philippe Lecouffe.

The extensive operation, which lasted 10 months, resulted in dozens of federal operations and prosecutions, including:

Four search warrants were executed in furtherance of a multiagency investigation resulting in the seizure of approximately $1 million in drug proceeds (including approximately $700,000 in cryptocurrency), eight firearms, one vehicle, and various controlled substances including MDMA, LSD, and cocaine. The FBI, DEA, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and USPIS jointly conducted the investigation. According to court documents, the targets of the investigation were operating over multiple Darknet marketplaces to traffic methamphetamine, counterfeit pressed Adderall (containing methamphetamine), MDMA, cocaine, and ketamine to customers throughout the United States. The investigation revealed that the organization’s base of operations was in Houston, Texas, and the organization shipped to various cities throughout the United States. Six defendants are charged in a five-count indictment in the Southern District of Ohio with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, sale of counterfeit drugs, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The FBI in conjunction with the USPIS, FDA, and DEA, had been investigating a criminal enterprise that operated two Darknet vendor accounts. One of the accounts was operated out of the Miami area and the other out of the Providence, Rhode Island, area. According to court documents, the vendors, Luis Spencer, 31, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Olatunji Dawodu, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Alex Ogando, 35, of Providence, Rhode Island, allegedly advertised and sold pressed fentanyl pills throughout the United States. Agents identified several other co-conspirators and obtained search and arrest warrants for each. During the execution of the warrants, agents seized approximately $770,000, one weapon and approximately 3.5 kilograms of pressed fentanyl. Spencer, Dawodu, and Ogando are charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

Kevin Olando Ombisi, 32, and Eric Bernard Russell Jr, 36, both of Katy, Texas, are alleged to have participated in Darknet controlled substances trafficking activities using the moniker Cardingmaster and are charged in a 10-count indictment in the Western District of Tennessee with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, attempted unlawful distribution of controlled substances, sale of counterfeit drugs, money laundering conspiracy, and mail fraud. According to court documents, Ombisi and Russell are alleged to have used the moniker Cardingmaster and conspired and attempted to, and did unlawfully distribute the Schedule II controlled substance methamphetamine, which was falsely represented to be Adderall, through the mail in the Western District of Tennessee and elsewhere. In conjunction with their arrests, the government seized more than $5 million in assets alleged to be connected to the drug trafficking activity. The case was investigated by the DEA, HSI, USPIS, and the FDA, and is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.

An indictment and criminal complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Operation Dark HunTor was a collaborative initiative across JCODE members, including the Department of Justice; FBI; DEA; USPIS; ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); IRS-Criminal Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the FDA’s Office of Investigations. This operation was aided by non-operational supporting participation from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation Dark HunTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships. The investigations leading to Operation Dark HunTor were significantly aided by support and coordination by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), multi-agency Special Operations Division, the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section’s Digital Currency Initiative, Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, the Fraud Section, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the National Cyber Joint Investigative Task Force (NCJITF), Europol and its Dark Web team and international partners Eurojust, Australian Federal Police (AFP), Bulgaria’s General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (Главна дирекция Борба с организираната престъпност), France’s National Police (Police National - OCLCTIC) and National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale – C3N), Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), Central Criminal Investigation Department in the German city of Oldenburg (Zentrale KriminaIinspektion Oldenburg), State Criminal Police Offices (Landeskriminalämter), State Criminal Police Office of Lower Saxony (LKA Niedersachsen), various police departments (Dienststellen der Länderpolizeien), German Investigation Customs ( Zollfahndungsämter), Italy’s Finance Corps (Guardia di Finanza) and Public Prosecutor’s Office Brescia, the Netherland’s National Police (Politie), Switzerland’s Zurich Canton Police (Kantonspolizei Zürich) and Public Prosecutor's Office II of the Canton of Zurich (Staatsanwaltschaft II), and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and NPCC.

Federal prosecutions are being conducted in more than 15 federal districts, including the Central District of California, the Eastern District of California, the Northern District of California, the District of Columbia, the Southern District of Florida, the District of Massachusetts, the District of Nebraska, the District of Nevada, the Western District of New York, the Southern District of Ohio, the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Virginia, the District of Rhode Island, the Western District of Tennessee, and the Western District of Washington.

JCODE is an FBI-led Department of Justice initiative, which supports, coordinates, and assists in de-confliction of investigations targeting for disruption and dismantlement of the online sale of illegal drugs, especially fentanyl and other opioids. JCODE also targets the trafficking of weapons and other illicit goods and services on the internet.

Source-FBI

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Faith is a link between man and his creator.

Mankind has two challenges on this: that God is all-encompassing hence there is no basis for discrimination. And that religious activities have conditions for acceptance before God.

The declaration of God in the Holy Quran 2: 62, ''Those who believe in the Quran(the Muslims), and those who follow the Jewish scriptures and the Christians and the Serbians-any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.''
All adherents are, therefore, identified of which only one is good on the issue of achieving tranquility of the mind, peaceful co-existence, safe and secured environment, and sustainable development.
There are some adherents who do not allow the word of God to take root in their minds.
Another set of adherents are those that are like a rocky edge, without room for in-depth knowledge resulting in stunted growth because the root of the seed or words of God cannot get to the mineral resources bed of life.
The third type of adherents could be regarded as suffering from bad peer group bandwagon effect where the adherents are filled with the worries of a life-Godly mind with a satanic environment.

The fourth one that is good can bring forth the expected buoyant yield could be likened to that of the fertile soil of Godly mind in a Godly environment.
References to back up the above claim could be sighted in the Holy Bible Mark 4: 1-10, Holy Quran 11: 113, 18: 27-28.
In the Holy Bible Isaiah 6: 9-10, ''And he said, Go, and tell these people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.''
The Holy Quran corroborates this assertive judgment of divine substance in 2: 6-7, '' As to those who reject  Faith it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe. Allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing. And on their eyes is a veil: Great is the chastisement they incur.''
From these lessons let there be a paradigm shift of positive turning effect on your attitudinal disposition towards God and His words by standing aright in your faith to be a good vehicle of God and a veritable tool for development in your society.
Only God can make things work, I need God, you need Him, we all need the almighty Allah. Give Him total submission to His will to overcome barriers of life and quench the inferno of insecurity.

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