32 year old Emil Vladimirov Babadjov recently plead guilty to numerous drug charges he faced following a quick, 2 month investigation by United States law enforcement. Babadjov, a seller on the closed Dark Web marketplace AlphaBay, was also known as ‘BTH-Overdose’ and ‘Blime-Sub’.
Babadjov’s arrest was due to the authorities’ investigation of AlphaBay’s drug trafficking activities as well as other marketplaces on the Dark Web. He was found to be operating two separate accounts on the site after authorities connected him using information found on the site itself as well as forum discussions and comments posted.
Once authorities were on to Babadjov’s illicit activities on AlphaBay, they began a covert operation in order to locate him. The United States government then employed the services of John T. Rabaut, a DEA Special Agent who was part of the OCDETF (Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force) with this task.
Rabaut began the operation by joining the marketplace and locating Babadjov’s items for sale where he proceeded to purchase 3 grams of heroin. Rabaut reached out to the USPIS (United States Postal Inspection Service) for their cooperation on the matter. After the purchase, Rabaut simply waited to be notified by the inspector that the package containing the drug had arrived.
Once the package was received, inspectors investigated the PVI label (Postage Validation Imprinter) and were able to get all the necessary details that pointed to Babadjov’s identity. Authorities were quickly able to track him down and charge him with the drug crimes including possession and distributing the substances.
Ten months after the initial arrest, Babadjov finally confessed and plead guilty to the drug trafficking charges. It was noted that Babadjov had sold more than 66g of fentanyl, 510g of methamphetamine, and 1100g of heroin to buyers via AlphaBay.
