Three men suspected of operating the darkweb vendor account “EastSideHigh” have been indicted in federal court for manufacturing MDMA and ketamine and selling the manufactured substances through Wallstreet Market.

In late March, this site published an article covering the connection between between a drug bust in Massachusetts and the disappearance of a prolific darkweb vendor (special thanks to a reader who sent a tip). On June 12, a court filing in connection with a federal indictment confirmed that the suspected drug dealers allegedly sold ketamine and MDMA on Wallstreet Market.

EastSideHigh Bust

The three suspects—Binh Thanh Le, Steven McCall, and Allante Pires—allegedly conspired to manufacture the aforementioned substances, distribute them, and possess with intent to distribute, according to the recently filed affidavit. Court documents revealed that the United States Postal Inspection Service had launched an investigation into EastSideHigh in June 2018.

Investigators learned that the suspected drug dealers had been dropping packages off at Post Offices and Post Office drop boxes throughout Massachusetts. Postal Inspectors also learned that the three men had access to a storage unit in Stoughton—the location where the EastSideHigh products were being manufactured.

In March 2019, undercover law enforcement officers reached an agreement with EastSideHigh; they would exchange a certain amount of cash for $150,000 in bitcoin. With many cryptocurrency exchanges cracking down on illicit income, some vendors have been forced to find new ways to convert their cryptocurrency to cash. Many recent darkweb vendor busts have involved a similar tactic. During operation Dark Gold, law enforcement posed as a darkweb money launderer and collected the addresses of the vendors exchanging bitcoin for cash.

EastSideHigh Vendor Account

On March 27, EastSideHigh and the undercover law enforcement officers arranged a meeting at a Hampton Inn hotel. Law enforcement officers conducted surveillance on the three suspects throughout the day and determined that Pires and Le would be conducting the transaction at the hotel but McCall would be working at the storage unit. After pulling into the hotel parking lot, Le entered the hotel and Pires waited outside. “Le used his mobile phone to access hit Bitcoin wallet and electronically transferred $200,000 worth of Bitcoin to an undercover Bitcoin wallet,” according to an affidavit.

EastSideHigh Vendor Account

After transferring the funds, officers entered the room and arrested Le. Officers outside arrested Pires. While arresting Le and Pires at the hotel, another team of law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the storage unit where the arrested McCall. McCall was wearing a mask and latex gloves at the time of his arrest. At the storage unit the police found 6,200 grams of MDMA and 5,000 grams of ketamine.

“At the time of the search, agents also observed a desktop computer in the Stoughton location that was opened to the EastSideHigh vendor page on the Dark Net Market Wall Street Market,” according to a court document.

All three are being held without bail and no court date scheduled as of this post.

USAO Press Release:

Three Brockton men were indicted yesterday in federal court in Boston on charges of conspiring to manufacture and distribute controlled substances. Binh Thanh Le, 22, Steven McCall, 23, and Allante Pires, 22, were each charged with conspiring to manufacture and distribute MDMA, Ketamine and Xanax. All three men were previously charged by criminal complaint and were detained following an initial appearance in federal court in May 2019.

Indictments:

According to the charging documents, Le, McCall, and Pires received wholesale quantities of controlled substances in the mail. The three men then processed and manufactured those controlled substances at an office space they rented in Stoughton. To distribute the drugs, the men allegedly created a vendor site entitled “EastSideHigh” on Dark Net Market websites, where they advertised various drugs for sale, including cocaine, MDMA, Ketamine and Xanax.

Quantities Seized:

More than 20 kilograms of MDMA, more than seven kilograms of Ketamine, more than 10,000 Xanax pills, more than $200,000 worth of Bitcoin, and more than $100,000 in cash were seized by authorities. During the execution of a search warrant at the office space in Stoughton, agents encountered and arrested McCall, who was wearing latex gloves and a respirator, and was believed to be in the process of filling drug orders. During the search of that office space, a computer with the “EastSideHigh” vendor page open, and numerous packages containing MDMA and Ketamine, various shipping and packaging materials, and a pill press were recovered.

Undercover purchases:

During the investigation, an undercover federal agent ordered MDMA from one of the “EastSideHigh” vendor sites on a Dark Net Marketplace, and later observed Le allegedly deposit the envelope containing the agent’s order into a United States Postal Service collection box in Stoughton. Pursuant to federal search warrants, numerous other envelopes containing MDMA and Ketamine, which are connected to this drug distribution scheme, were intercepted

The Hotel Sting:

On March 27, 2019, Le allegedly met with undercover law enforcement officers at a hotel in Norwood for the purpose of exchanging $200,000 worth of Bitcoin for cash. Le was arrested after he transferred the bitcoin to the agents.

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