OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - A Canadian dark web vendor has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in operating an international narcotics distribution ring over the dark web where millions of counterfeit Xanax pills were imported and sold to customers in the United States.
Arden McCann, 37, of Quebec, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee to jail followed by 10 years of supervised release. He was also fined $1 million dollars. McCann was convicted of drug importation and money laundering conspiracies in September, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Moultrie, McCann was arrested in October 2015 by the Canada Police for selling drugs on the dark web using the moniker 'DRXanax.' Canadian authorities seized two million counterfeit Xanax pills, five pill presses, alprazolam powder, 3,000 MDMA pills, over $200,000 in cash, 15 firearms, ballistic vests, and drug ledgers. The drug ledgers revealed McCann and others purchased alprazolam from China, pressed the alprazolam into counterfeit Xanax pills, and sold them to customers throughout the United States.
Despite his arrest, McCann continued to operate on the dark web to sell narcotics, including fentanyl analogues. A subsequent investigation by U.S. law enforcement revealed that from November 2015 to February 2020, McCann operated numerous vendor pages on ten marketplaces on the dark web. The investigation also revealed that during this period McCann distributed drugs to 49 states generating more than $10 million.
McCann was arrested by Canadian authorities on February 26, 2020, on the charges from the Northern District of Georgia, and was extradited to the United States on June 9, 2022.
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