NTU top student Lin Ruixiang made 160 million TWD a month selling drugs on the dark web, mastermind of the "invisible market" bites accomplices for a reduced sentence in the U.S.

He was once a gifted student in the Department of Information Management at National Taiwan University, but chose to embark on the irreversible path of drug trafficking on the dark web. At only in his 20s, Lin Ruixiang utilized encryption technology and Virtual Money to create one of the largest drug trading platforms in the world, "Incognito Market", earning over 100 million dollars in illegal wealth. Now, this drug lord, who originally thought he could remain hidden in the digital world, has not only been captured by the FBI but also reportedly will cooperate with the US authorities to expose unexposed accomplices in hopes of reducing his sentence, shocking society.

( Operating a dark web drug trading platform has earned millions of dollars! A 23-year-old Taiwanese conscription substitute has pleaded guilty and faces a possible life sentence )

The FBI in the United States cracked down on the dark web, and the main suspect turned out to be a top student from National Taiwan University.

The "Hidden Market" is a platform that specializes in selling drugs on the dark web, operating for three years, with peak monthly revenues reaching 5 million USD (approximately 160 million NTD), attracting drug dealers and buyers from around the world. According to data from the U.S. Department of Justice, this platform is led by a person with the code name "Pharoah," whose real identity is Lin Ruixiang from Taiwan.

Lin Ruixiang has designed a perfect anonymous trading mechanism through precise encryption technology. The platform offers a variety of drugs for sale, including marijuana, amphetamines, and psychedelics, all of which can be purchased using Virtual Money for payment. This makes it not only difficult to trace but also allows for cross-border trafficking, with even cases of Taiwanese drug dealers purchasing marijuana seeds from Europe via Bitcoin.

Taiwan confiscated assets exceeding 200 million; Lin is rumored to be cooperating with the US to seek a reduced sentence.

After the U.S. arrested Lin Rui-shiang, Taiwan's prosecutors and police launched an asset investigation operation, having confiscated over NT$200 million to date, including luxury residences, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency assets under his name. According to reports from Mirror Weekly, Lin has recently reached a cooperation agreement with U.S. prosecutors, willing to disclose unexposed accomplices on the condition of avoiding a life sentence.

To this end, a New York court in the United States has rarely decided to postpone the originally scheduled sentencing date to September of this year. As long as the U.S. authorities can successfully arrest the other accomplices mentioned by Lin, the sentence he may face in the future will be significantly reduced.

New Challenges in the Drug Market: Virtual Money Becomes the New Favorite of Drug Dealers

The success of the "dark web" has exposed new challenges in the global fight against drug-related crime. Virtual Money, due to its anonymity, decentralization, and difficulty in tracking, has become the preferred trading tool for modern drug dealers. At a drug prevention seminar last month, the investigation bureau specifically used the case of Lin Ruixiang as an example to delve into the practical difficulties of seizing and tracking Virtual Money.

According to reports, drug users in Kaohsiung have been ordering marijuana seeds from the Netherlands and Spain through Bitcoin to be sent back to Taiwan. Similar cases have been frequently reported, putting law enforcement agencies under great strain.

Family background exposed: raised by a single parent, brothers got into National Taiwan University by relying on scholarships to get by.

Although Lin Ruixiang has now become the focus of global attention in drug-related cases, his family background is also quite lamentable. His parents divorced early on; his father is an outstanding alumnus of National Taiwan University and a well-known figure in the tech industry. However, Lin was raised solely by his mother since childhood, and the family faced financial difficulties. He and his younger brother worked hard in their studies, relying on scholarships and academic awards to make ends meet, and both were admitted to National Taiwan University.

Lin revealed to investigators that in order to empathize with his mother's hardships, he had long been living on rice balls, only wanting his mother to have a good life. His mother, for the sake of her children, insisted on sending the two brothers to private schools even when she was hungry. This story of a single mother raising high-achieving students was originally touching, but has now become a footnote in a criminal case.

A letter from prison exposed: admitted mistakes but did not confess to drug trafficking, hoping to return home soon.

After Lin Ruixiang was arrested in the United States, he wrote a letter from prison back to Taiwan. In the letter, he admitted that he "took a shortcut and went the wrong way," but did not explicitly admit to drug trafficking. He claimed that he did not engage in drug trafficking in Taiwan, had no intention of harming the country, and only wanted to provide a better life for his family.

In the letter, he reminded his mother to remember to take her medicine and see the doctor, and told his younger brother, "You should wake up now, don't act like a child anymore." He expressed his willingness to take on the responsibilities of the past, hoping that one day he could return home safely.

How should society respond to new types of drug crimes in the encryption era?

The case of Lin Ruixiang is not just a high-tech drug crime, but also reveals how Virtual Money and encryption technology are being misused in global cross-border drug trafficking. From an award-winning gifted student to becoming an operator of a global drug network platform, the cost of this path is heavy, and it poses new challenges to the judicial and technological regulation of various countries. In the future, how governments and law enforcement agencies enhance their technological investigative capabilities to track the illegal activities behind encrypted transactions will be key to combating drug crimes in the digital age.

This article reports that Lin Ruixiang, a top student from National Taiwan University, earned 160 million TWD per month selling drugs on the dark web. The mastermind of the "invisible market" has implicated accomplices in exchange for a reduced sentence in the United States, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.