Supplier for “Dopeboy210” Gets 21 Years in Prison

One of the defendants behind the darkweb vendor account “Dopeboy210” received a 21-year prison sentence for distributing more than 800,000 counterfeit pills through the darkweb. Dopeboy210, before law enforcement seized the account, held a top spot on Alphabay for counterfeit Adderall and oxycodone distribution.

Fernando “Kalifa” Padilla Becerra, one of several conspirators in drug trafficking case in San Antonio. In August 2017, United States authorities announced that eight suspected drug traffickers had been arrested in connection with a San Antonio-based pill distribution operation. Becerra neither led the San Antonio operation nor lived in Texas at the time of the operation. While living in California, Becerra had been supplying the San Antonio crew with bulk quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and alprazolam.

Becerra shipped the pills directly to the residence of Alaa Mohammed Allawi, court records indicate. Allawi recently admitted that he had masterminded the entire operation and entered a guilty plea in connection with the case. Allawi, after receiving drugs from Becerra and other suppliers, used his own equipment to produce counterfeit oxycodone pills, adderall, and xanax. Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra detailed the huge number of counterfeit medication sold by the ring from 2015 to 2017: 359,553 oxycodone pills with fentanyl, 342,551 pills of Adderall with meth, 145,395 pills of counterfeit Xanax.

The investigation began at the University of Texas at San Antonio campus and student housing when police on campus discovered a number of counterfeit pills. The University of Texas at San Antonio police alerted the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA and other federal agencies investigated the case for two years as Allawi and his crew continued to produce pills and sell them both online and in person.

According to court records, Allawi and his co-conspirators sold their counterfeit products on Alphabay. Additional information from outside sources verified that the Allawi sold under the username Dopeboy210. “A review of the order history reveals a total sales profit of $14,323,092,” an affidavit said. Former Alphabay users noted that Dopeboy210 was one of the top distributors of Adderall or counterfeit Adderall before his arrest (and before law enforcement seized and shutdown Alphabay Market).

A completely random area code

“I’d like apologize to the court and my family,” Becerra told the judge. “I take responsibility and want to see if I can get a second chance. We all make mistakes.”

“That’s quite a mistake,” the judge responded, noting the huge number of pills that were sold. “That’s a big mistake over quite a period of time. I mean, we’re not talking about a few joints.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bettina Richardson:

“This defendant was a long-time supplier of large amounts of narcotics that were being distributed … using Bitcoin and the internet. This came about as discovery of an increased amount of narcotics on the University of Texas (at San Antonio). He said he wants to be there for his son, but every parent who sends their child to college wants to be there for their son, too. This organization that Becerra was providing narcotics for was responsible for the death of at least one individual.”

Becerra pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and more than 500 grams of meth; and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine.