Infamous 'Farmer's Market' narcotic shop busted

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
4/17/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

3,000 people in 15 countries arrested in raid

The notorious online narcotic drugstore "the Farmer's Market" has been busted in an international raid that has ended with 3,000 arrests in 15 countries. The online service allowed suppliers of drugs, such as LSD, Ecstasy and Ketamine to sell their wares online anonymously. The ring accepted various forms of payment, including cash, Western Union and PayPal transactions, the indictment claims.

The notorious online narcotic drugstore 'the Farmer's Market' has been busted in an international raid that has ended with 3,000 arrests in 15 countries. The online service allowed suppliers of drugs, such as LSD, Ecstasy and Ketamine to sell their wares online anonymously.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - As reported in an indictment unsealed in federal court in Los Angeles, eight men ran "The Farmer's Market." From 2007 to 2009 alone, the marketplace processed more than 5,000 orders for drugs valued at more than $1 million.

It's believed that operations for the drug ring began as far back as March 2006.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, the market "provided a controlled substances storefront, order forms, online forums, customer service, and payment methods for the different sources of supply" and charged the suppliers a commission based upon the value of the order.

"For customers, the operators screened all sources of supply and guaranteed delivery of the illegal drugs," the statement said.

The purported ringleader, 42-year-old Marc Willems was arrested this week at his home in Lelystad in the Netherlands, officials said.

Forty-two-year-old Michael Evron, a U.S. citizen living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was also taken into custody this past weekend in Bogota, Colombia, authorities said.

The six other men were arrested at their homes, including 51-year-old Jonathan Colbeck, of Urbana, Iowa; 47-year-old Brian Colbeck of Coldwater, Mich.; 31-year-old Ryan Rawls of Alpharetta, Ga.; 27-year-old Jonathan Dugan of North Babylon, N.Y.; 20-year-old George Matzek of Secaucus, N.J.; and 37-year-old Charles Bigras of Melbourne, Fla.

The 12-count indictment charges all eight men with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering conspiracy. Some of the suspects are also charged with distributing LSD and taking part in a continuing criminal enterprise.

All could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of conspiracy.

Seven other people were arrested on suspicion of drug crimes Monday in the Netherlands, Georgia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Authorities seized hallucinogenic mushrooms, hashish, LSD, marijuana and Ecstasy, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The investigation led to those arrests, but authorities still were trying to determine their connections to the online marketplace, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin S. Rosenberg.

The two-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Adam Bomb, "involved law enforcement agents from several U.S. states and several countries, including Colombia, the Netherlands and Scotland, the U.S. attorney's office said.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: Drugs, online sales, Los aAngeles, arrests, Farmer Markets

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

dave
5 months ago
Yes, 15 were arrested. It makes it seem like a better use of law enforcement resources to say 3,000. Sadly, it was 15. Two years of investigation to bust 15 people.

It's even sadder when you look at the money numbers. $1 Million over 3 years is $333,333. Divide that amongst 15 people arrested, that's $22,000/year each they were bringing in. Apparently, they sellers had to purchase the product, too. So, that doesn't even include their costs. If they marked up their products 100% (although it's likely less), each person arrested was probably earning about $10,000 per year in profit. That's well below the poverty line if this was their only source of income.

Funding a 2 year investigation + prison care for life for 15 people = about $15 Million. So that's $15 Million in taxpayer money to bust 15 and put them in jail for life. Don't we have some illegal immigrants to deport?
Jay Klein
1 year ago
To whom it may concern,

The information contained in this article is false. The police did not arrest 3000 people in 15 countries.

15 people in "several" countries were arrested. One person in Holland was arrested, one person in South America and 13 people in the USA were arrested.

Thank you.

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