James Barlow, a native of Las Vegas, was detained by federal law enforcement authorities and given a three-year prison term for his leadership of a worldwide psychedelic mushroom market on the dark web. Let’s delve deeply into the research into James Barlow:
The dark web is still a mystery to many. It’s a surreal wonderland for others. As significant technological advancements are made over the coming ten years, it will keep growing and become an even more surreal wonderland. The dark web was able to keep up its “spicy” reputation because of one man’s operation out of Las Vegas.
Who Is James Barlow, a Dark Web Entrepreneur?
James Barlow and his criminal network transported psychedelics out to customers from Memphis, Las Vegas, and Gulf Breeze to people all over the world while living the high life in a Vegas house, driving numerous Tesla cars, using Bitcoin to purchase land in Colorado, and blowing millions of dollars.
Their business, which sold chemicals derived from mushrooms for $20 each, went by the shop names TRIPWITHSCIENCE and PERFECTSHROOMS.
The 12-person gang was apprehended by the Central Ohio Cyber Drug Task Force, a law enforcement organization. They were connected to more than 3,500 kg of psychedelic mushrooms.
After their April arrest, all of them pleaded not guilty to the charges, with the exception of James Barlow and his brother, while a trial date was being set.
James Barlow was a member of the US Army who served in Las Vegas from 1994 until he finally retired in 2019. James Barlow engaged in a number of legal business ventures while serving in the Army, including the sale of amusing t-shirts. For nine years, from 2006 to 2015, he sold shirts.
According to authorities, he started selling drugs online in 2013. Ronald Brust, who is thought to be the actual mushroom grower, and James Barlow collaborated. Barlow’s reason for growing mushrooms was a desire to finance his extravagant lifestyle, which his previous unsuccessful firm was unable to support.
The following defendants were accused by a federal grand jury, according to WCMH-TV, the neighborhood NBC affiliate news station in Columbus, Ohio:
- James Barlow, 44, a Nevada resident from Las Vegas
- Brother of James Barlow, Matthew Taylor Barlow, age 35, of Murray, Utah
- Las Vegas, Nevada resident Ronald Royal Edward Brust, age 45
- Murray, Utah resident Jennifer Helen Campbell, 42
- Las Vegas, Nevada resident Monet L. Carriere, 32
- Tennessee’s Memphis resident Tony Du Phan, 44,
James Barlow: What Sort of Illegal Drug Products Were They Supplying On the Dark Web?
They were primarily marketing a liquid distillate of psychoactive mushrooms as their main item. Matthew Barlow and others liquefied the mushrooms before shipping them to Tennessee and the UK, where they were properly packed for sale. After that, the substance was put into nine-milligram vials and offered for sale for $20. As of 2022, this amounted to millions of dollars in cryptocurrency sales in US dollars.
How does drug trafficking work?
The laws, which are established by Congress, apply to the entire nation when someone commits a federal infraction. a crime that is punishable by jail or extremely heavy penalties.
Actually, what happened in the case?
According to the DOJ, a 25-year veteran of the military quietly rose to become one of the most prosperous dark web drug dealers in history. He had a wealth of $15 million, and his sales of liquid mushrooms were worth more than $140 million in Bitcoin today. His extravagant lifestyle was in keeping with his criminal business.
The U.S. government claims that one of its own, James Barlow, a 25-year veteran of the military, acquired a modest fortune over eight years by peddling psychedelic substances on several dark web bazaars under the name Tripwithscience.
Prosecutors are still tallying what they allege to be the criminal winnings of the 44-year-old Las Vegas resident; they anticipate them to be between $12 million and $15 million in assets, spread across expensive real estate, luxury vehicles, jet skis, mountains of cryptocurrency, and loaded fiat currency bank accounts.
If the government account is accurate, one of the U.S. Army’s own was one of the more successful dealers to grace the internet underworld.
His brother, Matthew Barlow, 35, is one of several alleged co-conspirators, according to the Justice Department, who claims he was a leader of the Tripwithscience illicit drug ring. The Justice Department claims that the group of people operated a sophisticated, global psychedelic operation together.
They mostly traded liquid psychedelic mushrooms in nine-milligram vials for $20 apiece on a variety of marketplaces, such as the now-defunct Silk Road 2.0 and Empire as well as more recent bazaars like Monopoly and Televend.
The group, according to the government, also promoted the primary Tripwithscience brand via several shill accounts.
However, by January of this year, detectives had closed in and were retrieving information from what they claimed to be Barlow’s Google account. According to the government’s search request, the vendor Tripwithscience and another one he helped manage, Perfectshrooms, both included spreadsheets with sales data on his Google Drive.
According to one tab named “2015 Received,” it was revealed that the accounts had conducted 704 darknet transactions totaling just over 1,544 Bitcoin, which at the time were worth roughly $400,000 but are now worth roughly $90 million.
According to prosecutors, he earned over 2,300 Bitcoins between 2014 and 2020, which are today valued at about $140 million, according to statistics for each year’s Bitcoin income documented on another spreadsheet. A DOJ search warrant request revealed that he was making about $4,000 per month as a sergeant first class with the U.S. Army.
The DOJ gave no additional information regarding how it arrived at its far lower estimate of Barlow’s wealth of $15 million.
According to court documents, he would have had a sizable outflow as he is said to have paid a reshipper who was responsible for putting the hallucinogenic vials into packaging up to $6,000 in cryptocurrencies every two weeks.
The court records demonstrated that the co-conspirators were also paid, in addition to the purchases and production of the drugs, as well as their packaging.
Investigators discovered that James Barlow was identified as the proprietor of a few additional companies, including Good to Glow and Illuminated Couture, which both produced apparel with LED lights and were operated by Brust, the suspected shroom grower.
The Justice Department claimed that James Barlow “was not generating enough, if any, revenue from these entities to support his lifestyle, which involved travel on private jets, extensive world travel, transactions of high-end automobiles, and ownership of multiple properties,” including one worth $1.5 million that was purchased in March.
The DOJ claimed that he also owned two jet skis in addition to two Tesla cars, which he bought for friends in recent years.
A Google Maps search for his property, which is stated in the court documents from the government, reveals two Teslas, a Mercedes, and two jet skis outside of a sizable one-story structure.
The government claimed that James Barlow also discussed using Bitcoin to purchase land in Colorado in a video from his Google Drive account.
James Barlow and his brother were both detained in April, but they have not yet entered a plea. The attorney for the siblings declined to comment. Brust and the other conspirators have entered a not-guilty plea and are awaiting their trial.
The brothers accused of operating a dark web drug operation before the Barlows are not the first. According to a 2020 Forbes article, two brothers were accused of running a six-year operation under the alias Pill Cosby and laundering $2.8 million during that time.
The arrest of 150 accused suspects involved in the purchase or sale of illegal products on the dark web is part of a broader crackdown on dark web sellers by international law enforcement, according to the announcement.
According to Europol, more than $30 million in cash and digital assets were recovered along with 234 kg of drugs and 45 weapons. He made an effort to become a respectable businessman after quitting the military by starting several businesses, including clothing stores.
He had several businesses, one of which being SmartTorso.com, a store that offered “funny shirts for smart people.” He claimed in a post from 2015 that he was barely breaking even and that it wasn’t enough to keep the firm afloat, so it appears that this venture didn’t have much success.
Additionally, according to court filings, Barlow engaged in a dark web business in 2013, two years after launching his clothes company. The excerpt omits any information about the specifics of this dark web business.
Barlow also ran a personal website that led to his Facebook profile. He also engaged in business. His Facebook profile picture showed him in his full military regalia, and his background picture showed him on the staircase of a luxury boat with scantily clad women around him while sporting a light-up bowtie and pocket square.
Barlow also registered domain names, such as cuddlefish.xyz, under the moniker “Cuddlefish,” which he had given himself.
James Barlow: Amazon’s AWS Breaks Off Relations With Triumph and Adds BBVA and Veriff
Here, is another piece of news I am providing you related to James Barlow & his company Triumph Technology Solutions.
Triumph Techs of James Barlow no longer has a business partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Philadelphia-based company was in frequent contact with us and was regarded as a “premier tier partner,” which is the highest level AWS classification.
According to rumors, Triumph’s aggressive estimations were the reason for the breakup. This might be the cause. Triumph of James Barlow has collaborated with other, more modest businesses. Triumph anticipates that its partnership with Amazon, which had developed throughout the pandemic, will come to an end in September 2023.
There are countless channel partners for AWS. Then, AWS eliminated Triumph Tech from a website listing all of its numerous channel partners. The company employs more than 170 employees, according to Triumph CEO Raymond, and is getting ready to extend operations to Canada, Israel, and Europe.
At a corporate meeting, Raymond informed staff members that the contract with AWS would expire in September 2023. I’ve been informed that numerous workers are posting their availability because of certain unanticipated events.
At the same time, leading global bank Bilbao Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) will employ AWS to provide sophisticated analytics and data services in the cloud. It boasts the most prominent franchises across South America and is the biggest banking organization in Mexico. Additionally, it is Garanti, Turkey’s largest stockholder.
In the process of transforming its data and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, BBVA is moving decisively. As part of its transition to becoming an AI- and data-driven business, BBVA will utilize AWS to leverage machine learning and analytics to revolutionize its internal processes, enhance risk management, spur growth, and offer novel solutions for its clients.
The leading provider of identity verification globally, Veriff, and AWS then announced a collaboration the same week. AWS’s IT infrastructure will benefit from Veriff. By doing this, AWS will be able to remain ahead of the increasingly complex fraud attempts and provide quick, secure digital services for everyone, from loan applicants to commuters in need of a ride.
Fraudulent attacks increased by 17.9% in 2022, according to Veriff’s 2023 Identity Fraud Report. To steal identities, launder money, and gain access to client accounts, bad actors and fraudsters are utilizing cutting-edge technology, such as generative AI. Veriff must quickly develop and implement its identity verification technology model while maintaining security in order to stay ahead of these dangers.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, three defendants who participated in the online sale of liquid psychedelic mushrooms have entered guilty pleas in federal court in Columbus. James Barlow, Matthew Taylor Barlow, and Jennifer Helen Campbell all acknowledged to planning to have a psychedelic mushroom analog on hand to sell it.
James Barlow also admitted to planning to launder the earnings of the cocaine trade. James Barlow will lose $15 million in drug revenues and assets, including bitcoin, cash, a Tesla, and land in Brighton, Colorado, as part of his guilty plea.
For several years, the defendants distributed substantial amounts of liquid hallucinogenic mushrooms throughout Europe and the United States through the darknet. They might potentially spend up to 20 years behind bars.
You can also follow the mentioned links to learn more about James Barlow:
- https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/dark-web-mushroom-dealers-tracked-by-ohio-drug-task-force-millions-in-crypto-seized/
- https://landmarkrecovery.com/las-vegas-man-arrested-for-dark-web-psychedelics/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2023/06/16/amazons-aws-cuts-ties-with-triumph-adds-bbva–veriff/?sh=15da3bd11c19
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/11/01/us-army-vet-became-a-dark-web-psychelic-dealer-bought-teslas-with-a-15-million-fortune-the-doj-says/?sh=4e4d674f5c13
