Man pleads guilty to selling drugs online; case tied to overdose death of Vancouver teen

An online narcotics dealer pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing fentanyl analogues and synthetic opioids nationwide, including to an 18-year-old Vancouver resident who died of an overdose after using the drugs.

Chukwuemeka Okparaeke, also known as “Emeka,” pled guilty in a White Plains, N.Y., federal court to distributing an analogue, something similar to the actual drug, of the synthetic opioid AH-7921; importing 100 grams of a fentanyl analog from Hong Kong; and making false statements to law enforcement and prosecutors about the money he made from selling the substances, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York.

As part of his plea, Okparaeke admitted that he sold a synthetic opioid to the Vancouver teenager who overdosed, according to the news release.

According to affidavits and statements made in court cited by prosecutors, Okparaeke, of Middletown, N.Y., imported kilograms of the drugs from Hong Kong and other cities in China into the U.S. The transactions are believed to have taken place between July 2016 through March 2017.

He allegedly used a darknet website named AlphaBay Market, or AlphaBay, for his transactions. The site is only accessible by using special computer software that allows users to hide their identities and make their internet activity anonymous, prosecutors said.

“Under the AlphaBay vendor name ‘Fentmaster,’ Okparaeke engaged in more than 7,000 sales of synthetic opioids, which he shipped to customers throughout the United States using the U.S. Postal Service,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Okparaeke paid a commission on each of his narcotics sales to the administrators of the website. In total, Okparaeke garnered more than $7 million in illicit proceeds, according to prosecutors.

He sold 3 grams of the synthetic opioid analogue U-47700 to the Vancouver teen in November 2016. The victim used the drugs and died of an overdose on Nov. 10.

Authorities say that prior to his death, the teenager researched Okparaeke’s online handle. On Nov. 6, he texted a friend saying he’d purchased drugs from “Fentmaster.” Then, he wrote a review on Okparaeke’s AlphaBay vendor page, confirming he’d received his purchase.

Okparaeke, who reportedly attended medical school before he began selling synthetic opioids online, “used extensive measures to conceal his identity, including software to encrypt his internet traffic and communications sent from his cellphone,” prosecutors said. “Using alter egos, he boasted online about his exploits as a darknet drug trafficker, offered advice to other drug dealers, and published a short story describing his criminal activities and his strategies for evading law enforcement.”

In January 2017, Customs and Border Protection agents, along with other federal agencies, intercepted several packages containing fentanyl analogues that were being shipped to Okparaeke. Two months later, officers searched a drug house “maintained” by Okparaeke in New Jersey. During the search, law enforcement seized more than 10 kilograms of drugs and 82 envelopes containing smaller quantities of the drugs that he allegedly prepared to mail to customers.

Okparaeke met with federal authorities in September and lied about the roughly 680 bitcoins, worth more than $7 million, he obtained through his sales were not in his possession or control. He further claimed that a third party had stolen the bitcoins through hacking and other unauthorized entry into his accounts, prosecutors said.

His plea means he’ll have to hand over all of the bitcoins, according to prosecutors. He faces five years to life in prison on the various federal charges. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 17.