Last Friday, Nov. 18th, a California man who was a vendor on “at least” nine darknet markets and ran two pill pressing plants in the Los Angeles area was indicted on 11 narcotics and firearms charges. Christopher Hampton, 36, is accused of receiving $2 million in cryptocurrency from two vendor shops “controlled” by him, as well as approximately $1.5 million from individual market transactions while selling thousands of counterfeit Oxycontin and Adderall pills since beginning his career as a vendor in January 2021.
Hampton allegedly went by the alias Narco710 on multiple darknet markets and the Dread forum. On November 2nd, he was arrested at his residence after search warrants issued by the FBI, DEA, ATF, and HSI were executed against him. Investigators uncovered six pill presses, ten guns (including one modified machine gun), “bundles of cash,” and approximately 450 pounds of drugs, including tens of thousands of produced pills, fentanyl powder, marijuana, mushrooms, and other unidentified substances.
According to FBI officials present at the arrest, one of Hampton’s computers was open and logged in at the time he was detained, enabling investigators access to a “fairly extensive buyer list” that comprised approximately 2,200 customer identities and 4,000 purchases.
“All buyers should tidy up and prepare for a call on the door,” warned HugBunter, Dread admin, in a forum thread discussing the subject.
Bags of fentanyl-laced bogus Oxy tablets discovered inside Hampton’s home. FBI is the source.
Hampton has been under DEA monitoring since ordering a bespoke pill press from abroad to create pills with markings similar to Adderall brand name pills. He was in charge of pill pressing plants in Compton and Inglewood, California, areas infamous for drug trafficking by Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. Undercover investigators eventually placed major darknet orders for drugs from his Narco710 vendor organization, including methamphetamine, utilizing evidence gathered during the investigation to corroborate his personal association.
“Violent drug cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, are deliberately pushing deadly fentanyl into our communities with complete disregard for human lives in order to maximize their profits,” said Los Angeles-based DEA Special Agent Bill Bodner in a US Justice Department press release.
If convicted on all allegations, Hampton faces a life term in prison.