The Manhattan, US authorities have arrested a criminal group and charged them with drugs dealing and laundering millions worth of Bitcoin (BTC), according to a news report on April 16th.

Specifically, Chester Anderson – along with his partners in crime Jarrette Codd and Ronald Maccarty – have been indicted for running storefronts on the dark webs to sell and transport “hundreds of thousands” of fake medicine in the form of tablets. The decision was made by Cyrus R. Vance Jr – Manhattan district attorney, together with the US Secret Service, Homeland Security, and Postal Inspection Service.  

As a part of the operation, an enormous amount of drugs – approximately from 420,000 to 620,000 of alprazolam tablets, 500 glassines of fentanyl-laced heroin as well as some methamphetamine, ketamine, and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and other substances – have been taken by the police. This drug bust is considered to be “the largest quantity of pills in New Jersey State history”.

According to the report, the 3 drug lords scammed customers throughout 43 states in the US and sold them counterfeit drugs and asked for Bitcoin as a form of payment. The group of criminals then laundered the $2.3 million fund by pumping pre-paid debit cards with the Bitcoin sum they received earlier, and finally, collectively cashed out more than $1 million at ATM points. The 3 criminals were charged with Fourth and Fifth degrees Conspiracy, as well as First-degree Laundering.

Earlier this month, a 33-year-old Danish man has reportedly been handed four years and three months’ imprisonment for fencing and laundering over DKK 3 million (USD 453,200) using Bitcoin.

Also, part of the agenda for this year’s G20 meetings to be held in Japan in June will include a framework to combat money laundering and terrorism financing risks linked to cryptocurrency, reported by The Crypto Sight on April 11.