NYC dark web dealer busted for peddling drugs in exchange for bitcoin: feds

A Brooklyn man was charged Wednesday with selling heroin and cocaine on the dark web in exchange for bitcoin and running a door-to-door drug delivery service in the Big Apple, federal authorities said.

Edison Hernandez, 46, allegedly pushed drugs under the pseudonyms “dragoncove” and “Nino” on dark web sites including Silk Road, AlphaBay, Dream Market and Wall Street Market for about six years starting in 2013, prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York said.

The accused internet peddler became a highly rated vendor on the sites, which allowed customers to grade dealers on factors such as quality of the product, reliability and volume, according to the feds. 

He evaded law enforcement for years by using the pseudonyms and accepting payment in cryptocurrency, authorities said.

The alleged drug pusher then worked with two other suspected dealers, 42-year-old Michael Caruso and Raymer Ynoa, 32, to sell cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA in a door-to-door delivery service in Manhattan and Brooklyn for three years beginning in 2019. 

The suspects advertised the service as “Nino & Viktor’s Pastry Shoppe” and allowed customers to order drugs over encrypted messaging apps, according to an indictment unsealed against them. 

A delivery person would then allegedly hand off the drugs after the deal was set up. 

They each face a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted.

A fourth alleged co-conspirator, Irvin Hernandez, was charged in a separate criminal complaint with working for the delivery service. 

The suspects were expected to appear in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday afternoon. Attorney information for them was not immediately available. 

In a statement, Breon Peace, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said dealers operating on the dark web would not stop law enforcement from tracking them down. 

“Hiding behind the dark web, encryption services, or bitcoin will not stop this Office from rooting out those who flood our communities with illegal and hazardous narcotics,” Peace said.