Taiwanese 'Pharaoh' Arrested for Running Darknet Market Incognito
US authorities have arrested 23-year-old Taiwanese national Rui-Siang Lin, also known as 'Pharaoh', for operating the Darknet market Incognito. Lin, who worked as an IT specialist at the Embassy of St. Lucia in Taipei, faces a potential life sentence for various drug and cybercrime-related offenses.
Lin's arrest took place at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in January 2024. The FBI gained access to one of Incognito's servers in the same month and tracked Lin's Bitcoin transactions to an exchange under his real name. Lin had opened a bank account under his real name at Commerzbank in 2023.
Incognito became increasingly popular in the summer of 2023, with trading volume reaching five million dollars per month. Lin's balance on the exchange grew to about five million dollars over the course of the year. Lin founded the web service Antinalysis, a tool for on-chain transaction analysis, to help users avoid detection on the Darknet. Through Incognito, Lin sold drugs worth approximately $100 million since the end of 2020, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine.
In March 2024, Lin shut down Incognito and attempted to blackmail users for $20,000 to avoid leaking their messages and transactions.
Lin's arrest and the subsequent investigation have shed light on the inner workings of Darknet markets and the potential consequences for those involved. His case serves as a reminder of the global reach and serious nature of cybercrime and drug trafficking.
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