Romanian Extradited for Running ‘ItalianMafiaBrussels’ Drug Ring

Filip Lucian Simion, 23, is locked up in Denver after being hauled from Romania to face federal charges tied to a transnational darknet drug empire. The alleged ringleader of the ‘ItalianMafiaBrussels’ drug trafficking organization (DTO) was extradited to the U.S. to answer for a sprawling, encrypted operation that flooded America with kilos of MDMA shipped through the mail. Simion made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix, facing a nine-count indictment that could land him behind bars for 20 years.

Simion didn’t act alone. He’s charged alongside Leonardo Cristea, 25, who was also yanked from Romania under an extradition order and arrived in Colorado on July 29, 2016. The duo allegedly ran the DTO under the alias ‘IMB,’ peddling high-purity MDMA through infamous darknet marketplaces like Silk Road and Silk Road 2.0. Transactions were shielded by TOR encryption and paid exclusively in bitcoin—a digital trail investigators still managed to follow. Customers spanned the U.S. and Canada, with orders funneled through the postal system like everyday packages.

The operation began unraveling in July 2013 when a joint task force started tracking suspicious international mail shipments. Over two years, authorities intercepted massive quantities of MDMA—each batch a Schedule I controlled substance known on the streets as Ecstasy. The investigation revealed a tightly coordinated network using encrypted email and hidden online storefronts to distribute drugs with near impunity. By 2014 and 2015, multiple associates had already been charged and convicted in Colorado for distributing IMB-sourced narcotics.

The hammer came down on May 3, 2016. In a synchronized U.S.-European takedown, law enforcement raided locations in Bruges, Belgium, arresting ten suspects. Simion and Cristea were seized simultaneously in Bucharest. While the pair face trial in Colorado, two other defendants named in the U.S. indictment will be prosecuted in Belgium, where the bulk of the operation was based. The bust crippled a major artery in the darknet drug trade, disrupting a pipeline that moved kilogram after kilogram across continents.

The indictment charges Simion, Cristea, Ymran Djavatkhanov, and Andy Nestor with conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances under Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 963. Simion faces additional counts for distributing drugs via the internet under 21 U.S.C. § 841(h)(1)(A) and conspiracy to launder money under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). Each count carries a maximum 20-year sentence, with penalties shaped by criminal history and the sheer volume of drugs trafficked.

This case was cracked by the Denver Illicit Digital Economy Working Group—a fusion of ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service—working in lockstep with Romania’s Central Anti-Narcotics Unit and Belgium’s Federal Judicial Police, East Flanders Drug Unit. Support poured in from Europol, Eurojust, DEA Chicago, ATF Atlanta, Customs and Border Protection, and local Colorado agencies. The takedown signals a hard line against digital-age cartels hiding in the encrypted shadows.