The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury announced On Wednesday that it had added British national Matthew Simon Grimm, Dutch citizens Alex Adrianus Martinus Peijnenburg and Martinus Pterus Henri De Koning, and more than 50 bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and bitcoin cash (BCH) addresses to its sanctions list.
The three are charged with selling drugs like fentanyl, stimulants, cannabis, and opioids in the United States. Over 30 of the addresses had a connection to Grimm, and the remaining ones had a connection to Peijnenburg.
According to OFAC, the three sold the drugs on darknet markets and other websites. The regulator is also adding a number of companies affiliated to the three individuals to its blacklist, making it illegal for Americans to do business with the them.
In a news statement, Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, stated that the department will keep using its antinarcotics authorities to obstruct anyone participating in the global fentanyl supply chain.
Additionally, during a raid at the Georgia residence of real estate developer James Zhong, the US Justice Department seized more than $3.3 billion in stolen Bitcoin (roughly 50,676 Bitcoins at 2016 prices).
In order to hide his identity in 2012, Zhong allegedly opened nine bogus accounts, according to the Justice Department. The marketplace’s withdrawal processing system then received over 140 transactions in quick succession, which fooled the marketplace into releasing over 50,000 Bitcoin into fictitious accounts.