Taiwan man gets 30-year term in U.S. for running online drug market

New York, Feb. 3 (CNA) A Taiwanese diplomatic service conscript who ran a multimillion-dollar online drug marketplace while training St. Lucian police on cybersecurity and cryptocurrency crime was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a U.S. court Tuesday.

Lin Rui-siang (林睿庠), 24, was one of the founders of "Incognito Market" in 2020 and took over leadership of the site in January 2022, before shutting it down in March 2024, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

In total, Lin's online platform facilitated more than 640,000 individual narcotics transactions during its nearly four-year run, the office said.

"While Lin made millions, his offenses had devastating consequences. He is responsible for at least one tragic death, and he exacerbated the opioid crisis and caused misery for more than 470,000 narcotics users and their families," the release quoted U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton as saying.

Lin was arrested on May 19, 2024, while transiting through New York en route to Singapore from St. Lucia, where he had been posted since Nov. 3, 2023, in Taiwan's technical mission as a "substitute service" conscript in lieu of military service.

He had taken approved leave from his position, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which said at the time of his arrest that he had passed a review and behaved normally during his service.

According to U.S. prosecutors, while Lin was managing Incognito, he led a four-day training for St. Lucian police officers about cybercrime and cryptocurrency, "which he bragged about on his personal Facebook page."

In addition to selling narcotics, Lin was also sentenced for conspiring to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and conspiring to sell adulterated and misbranded medication.

Lin pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on Dec. 16, 2024, ahead of Tuesday's sentencing hearing.

In addition to the prison term, Lin was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit US$105 million.

Previously commenting on the case, MOFA spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said Lin's personal conduct had nothing to do with the technical mission and that the ministry had no comment.