A manhunt for a deadly toxin has finally come to an end in New York. Cheng Le, a [unknown] year-old man from New York, has been charged with attempting to acquire ricin, a highly potent and potentially fatal toxin with no known antidote, through the Dark Web.
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, and the Indictment, Le attempted to acquire ricin by contacting an FBI online covert employee (the “OCE”) on a particular Dark Web marketplace using an encrypted messaging service.
The investigation revealed that in early December 2014, an individual (the “Ricin Buyer”) contacted the OCE and explored the possibility of the OCE supplying the Ricin Buyer with ricin, for the Ricin Buyer to resell to at least one secondary buyer. Le’s messages to the OCE included the following:
“If [the ricin’s] good quality, I’ve already had buyers lining up.”
“Does ricin have antidote? Last I check there isn’t one, isn’t it?”
“I probably told you this before, about mixing one and only one toxic pill into a bottle of normal pills. They all look identical. And as the target takes the medicine every day, sooner or later he’d ingest that poisonous pill and die. Even if there is a murder investigation, they won’t find any more toxin. 100% Risk Free.”
“I’ll be trying out new methods in the future. After all, it is death itself we’re selling here, and the more risk-free, the more efficient we can make it, the better.”
“Also, besides that one bottle of pills with one poisonous pill in there, can you send some extra loose powder/liquid ricin? I’d like to test something.”
Le was arrested in Manhattan on December 23, 2014, and has been detained since his arrest. He is expected to be arraigned on January 23, 2015, before the United States District Judge Alison J. Nathan.
According to the allegations, in early December 2014, the Ricin Buyer directed the OCE to send a quantity of ricin to a particular postal box in Manhattan (the “Postal Box”). The FBI later determined that the Postal Box belonged to CHENG LE. Later that same day, FBI agents observed LE wear latex gloves while retrieving a package from the Postal Box (the “Package”) and mailing it at a nearby post office (the “Post Office”).
The exact criminal charges against Le are attempting to acquire and distribute ricin and committing postal fraud. The city and state where the crime took place are New York. The exact date of the crime is early December 2014. Le’s sentence or outcome is currently unknown as this article was written. There are no dollar amounts mentioned in the source.
Related Federal Cases
- Wall Street Firms, Financial Malfeasance, New York NY, 2023 · Florida
- Kenneth Thom, Investment Scam, New York 2023 · North Carolina
- Christopher Ferguson, Securities Fraud, New York 2020 · Ohio
- Christopher Ferguson, Scheme to Inflate Order Numbers, New York 2023 · Washington
- Todd Faustin, Workers’ Compensation Fraud, New York NY, 2023 · New York
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
