Brockton Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Drugs on Dark Web

BROCKTON — A Brockton man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to helping make and sell a variety of controlled substances via the dark web in what the U.S. Attorney's Office called a "highly sophisticated" drug trafficking operation.

On Thursday, 25-year-old Allante Pires pleaded to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess MDMA, also known as ecstasy, as well as Ketamine and Alprazolam or Xanax.

Pires was indicted in June 2019 along with co-conspirators Binh Thanh Le and Steven McCall, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Le, who the office said was the ringleader of the drug trafficking operation, created and operated a dark web vendor site called 'EastSideHigh.'

The dark web is a part of the internet that can only be accessed with specific software or configurations that anonymize internet traffic.

Le used the dark web markets to advertise drugs for sale including cocaine, MDMA, Ketamine and Xanax, and distributed the narcotics wholesale.

Pires helped Le process and manufacture the controlled substances at an office space Le rented in Stoughton, allegedly with the help of suspected co-conspirator McCall.

McCall's plea hearing is scheduled for June 28.

After receiving orders and payment in Bitcoin, the men mailed the drugs to customers across the U.S.

During the investigation authorities seized over 19 kg of MDMA, almost seven kilos of Ketamine, nearly one kilogram of cocaine and more than 10,000 counterfeit Xanax pills, according to the office.

Investigators also found a computer with the 'EastSideHigh' vendor page open, a number of packages containing MDMA and Ketamine, shipping and packaging materials and a pill press from the Stoughton office.

Le was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release on March 10.

He was also ordered to forfeit more than 59 Bitcoin (currently worth over $1.7 million) and $114,680 in cash, along with $42,390 representing the proceeds from selling a BMW M3.

Sentencing for Pires is set for Sept. 8.