Two men from LA and two from Las Vegas arrested for allegedly selling fentanyl and cocaine on the dark web

A bag of evidence containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl disguised as oxycodone is shown during a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office press conference in 2020. California Republicans have attacked Democrats for their alleged inaction on fentanyl policy. (Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The US Department of Justice announced that four men were arrested for selling fentanyl pills and cocaine on the dark web.

According to authorities, Southern California residents 21-year-old Alejandro Soto and 21-year-old Austin Blanco, both of Burbank, and Las Vegas residents 23-year-old Craig Rushton and 20-year-old Christian McKibben were all affected was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, two counts of distribution of fentanyl and one count of distribution of cocaine.

The investigation began in April 2021. The Justice Department says the four men conspired with 23-year-old Van Nuys resident Brian McDonald and 23-year-old Ciara Clutario of Burbank to traffic fentanyl and cocaine.

McDonald and Clutario allegedly created vendor profiles on darknet marketplaces to sell fentanyl, cocaine and other illegal narcotics for cryptocurrency.

The pair maintained online dark web profiles and arranged medication lists and shipping options, tracked medication orders received through the profiles, and moved cryptocurrency obtained from the dark web marketplaces into cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the co-conspirators.

Both McDonald and Clutario were indicted last year and their trials begin Aug. 6.

The Justice Department says Soto, Blacano, McKibben and Rushton were directed by McDonald and others to package and ship the drugs sold on the dark web. The defendants allegedly handled the packaging of the narcotics at McKibben and Rushton’s Burbank home.

The defendants are alleged to have sold and shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of narcotics, including fentanyl and cocaine, to drug buyers across the country.

If convicted, the four men face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.