Dream Market MDMA Vendor Sentenced to Federal Prison

A Maryland man was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for conspiring in the purchase and resale of drugs through the dark web.

According to court documents, from July 2016 to April 2019, 31-year-old Vishesh Aragam Guruprasad of Boyds, Maryland, led a drug trafficking operation that acquired and distributed kilos of MDMA and other drugs through the now-defunct Dream Market and other dark web marketplaces.
Investigations into Guruprasad’s drug trafficking operation began in August 2018. An informant who had been to Guruprasad’s home, allegedly told the investigators that Guruprasad was mailing MDMA packages to buyers who had purchased the drugs from Guruprasad through the “Rolling_rocks” vendor account on Dream Market. Information from the Rolling_rocks vendor account revealed that the owner of the account also operated another vendor account under the moniker “PLANETEXPTRESS27”.
The informant also revealed that Guruprasad was importing MDMA from the UK after acquiring it through the dark web. Guruprasad had the drugs shipped to his accomplices’ post office boxes. Once delivered, the co-conspirators took the drugs to Guruprasad.
On February 1, 2019, a postal inspector accessed the post office box of one of Guruprasad’s accomplices and found two packages mailed from the UK. The investigators seized one package and left the other in the box. On opening the seized package, the investigators reportedly found a brownish crystal substance placed inside a vacuum-sealed bag. The substance tested positive for MDMA.
On February 11, 2019, the investigators searched Guruprasad’s trash and found two mailing envelopes with British stamps. They were both addressed to Guruprasad’s accomplices.
Two days later, the investigators made an undercover purchase from PLANETEXPTRESS27 on Dream Market. The investigators received the drug package on February 19.
The investigators executed a search warrant at Guruprasad’s residence on April 4, 2019. The search resulted in the seizure of 92.83 grams of MDMA, 1.05 grams of a mixture containing phenylethyl and fentanyl, and an undisclosed quantity of cannabis. The investigators also found and seized five firearms and over 1,100 rounds of ammunition.
Guruprasad admitted that between July 15, 2016, and June 13, 2017, he sold over two kilograms of MDMA through the dark web. From October 2018 to April 2019, he fulfilled over 1,000 orders and in the process distributed undisclosed quantities of MDMA, heroin, and marijuana.
Aragam also pleaded guilty to laundering the proceeds of the drug trafficking operation. On June 30, 2017, Guruprasad transferred 18 Bitcoins from a dark web marketplace to his account on an undisclosed crypto exchange and sold them a few days later. He transferred the $41,822 acquired from the sale to his bank account. He then transferred the money into other accounts he controlled.
In addition to the three years and six months in federal prison, US District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Guruprasad to four years of supervised release on April 20, 2023.