California Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Distributing Fentanyl Pills via Dark Web
The judge referred to the case as ‘the most sophisticated fentanyl distribution operation that this court has encountered.’
On January 13, two men from California received federal prison sentences after prosecutors claimed they provided fentanyl-laced pills to a drug trafficking organization that sold these substances to over 1,000 individuals on the dark web.
Adan Ruis, a 27-year-old from Garden Grove, was sentenced to 17 years and 11 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles on Monday.
Omar Navia, 39, hailing from South Los Angeles, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison by the same judge.
Judge Carter described this case as “the most sophisticated fentanyl distribution ring that this court has seen,” according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for California’s Central District.
Both individuals have been in federal custody since November 2023.
Navia pleaded guilty on April 29 to a single count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
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Ruiz pleaded guilty on June 3 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, alongside one count of selling fentanyl.
Both men entered guilty pleas as part of plea agreements.
From August 2021 to December 2022, federal prosecutors allege that the two supplied fentanyl-laced pills to Michael Ta, 26, from Westminster, California, and Rajiv Srinivasan, 38, from Houston.
The buyers reportedly utilized the dark web—an obscure section of the internet accessible through special software—and encrypted messaging apps to distribute over 120,000 pills and additional drugs to more than 1,000 customers throughout the United States.
These pills were linked to multiple fatal overdoses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Navia confessed to also providing methamphetamine to Ta and Srinivasan, according to federal prosecutors.
Fentanyl-laced sky blue pills known on the street as “Mexican oxy” in a file photo. Drug Enforcement Administration via AP
Srinivasan was also accused of running an account named “redlightlabs” on various dark web marketplaces, including the site “Dark0de.” It is alleged that Srinivasan and Ta utilized the account to promote and sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and other illicit drugs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors claimed that Srinivasan communicated with customers and sold drugs via the encrypted messaging app Wickr. He reportedly received cryptocurrency as payment for the drugs and subsequently routed these payments through cryptocurrency exchanges.
Ta allegedly communicated drug orders to Srinivasan and procured the fentanyl-laced pills and methamphetamine from supply channels. He allegedly stored the narcotics in his residence and mailed packages containing the pills to clients who ordered through the “redlightlabs” account.
Ta and Srinivasan accepted guilty pleas related to causing the deaths of three individuals who ingested the pills. Both also admitted to distributing fentanyl-laced pills to two additional victims, both of whom succumbed to fatal overdoses after receiving the pills from the defendants.
Prosecutors asserted that Srinivasan and Ta executed at least 3,800 drug transactions between February 2022 and November 2022.
The two purportedly sold narcotics and pills to around 1,400 clients across all 50 states, distributing over 123,000 fentanyl-laced M30 pills, more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly 300 grams of “China white” fentanyl powder, black tar heroin, and 27 grams of cocaine, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ta also pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and is currently serving a 21-year, eight-month federal prison sentence.
Srinivasan pleaded guilty in June 2023 to the same charge along with one count of distributing fentanyl resulting in death, and is now serving a federal prison term of 19 years and seven months.
