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Federal prosecutors closed one of the largest dark web drug cases in recent years with a lengthy prison sentence handed down in New York. The case centered on Incognito Market, an online platform that moved vast volumes of illegal narcotics while presenting itself as a polished ecommerce site.
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Rui Siang Lin received a 30 year federal prison sentence in Manhattan after admitting to running Incognito Market under the alias Pharaoh. Lin pleaded guilty in late 2024 to conspiracy to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and the sale of adulterated and misbranded medication.
Colleen McMahon ordered the sentence and approved forfeiture of more than $105 million tied to the operation. The ruling followed months of filings detailing how the marketplace functioned and how much money moved through its systems.
Court records show Incognito Market ran from October 2020 until March 2024. The platform copied the look and structure of mainstream online marketplaces, complete with branding, advertising features, and customer support tools.
Vendors paid a five percent commission on every transaction. Buyers and sellers used an internal cryptocurrency bank designed to obscure identities and transaction flows. Prosecutors said that system helped the marketplace grow rapidly while avoiding detection for years.
Authorities said Incognito Market facilitated the sale of more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamine. Hundreds of additional kilograms of other drugs moved through the site, along with counterfeit prescription pills. Some of those pills contained fentanyl, raising concerns about overdose risk tied to the platform.
In total, prosecutors linked more than 640,000 transactions to the marketplace. Those trades involved roughly 400,000 buyer accounts and about 1,800 vendors operating across multiple drug categories.
According to prosecutors, Lin personally collected more than $6 million while overseeing the operation. The platform ended abruptly in 2024, not through a law enforcement takedown at first, but through actions taken by its operator.
Prosecutors said Lin shut down Incognito Market by stealing user funds held in the internal crypto system. After the closure, he allegedly attempted to extort customers and vendors by threatening to reveal their identities and cryptocurrency addresses unless payments were made.
Those actions accelerated the investigation and added weight to sentencing arguments presented in court.
Rui Siang Lin ran the platform using the alias Pharaoh.
The marketplace operated from October 2020 until March 2024.
Prosecutors cited more than $105 million in drug sales tied to the site.
Lin received a 30 year federal prison sentence and forfeiture orders exceeding $105 million.
Prosecutors said the operator closed the site by stealing user funds and later attempted extortion.