A Nigerian national, Oluwole Adegboruwa, 54, residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for orchestrating a drug trafficking operation on the dark web.
The court also ordered him to forfeit over $20 million and placed him under lifetime supervised release. This penalty ranks among the largest ever imposed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Jill N. Parish after Adegboruwa was found guilty alongside his co-defendant, Enrique Isong, 49, of Los Angeles, California.
A jury convicted both men in May 2024 of charges including conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and money laundering. Isong received a 10-year prison sentence on October 23, 2024.
Federal prosecutors revealed that between October 2016 and May 2019, Adegboruwa trafficked more than 300,000 oxycodone pills via dark web platforms, generating an estimated $9.1 million in revenue.
He oversaw a well-organized criminal operation, managing everything from sourcing and packaging the drugs to handling sales and cryptocurrency transactions.
“This case highlights our commitment to dismantling drug networks and protecting the public from dangerous substances,” stated U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins.
DEA Special Agent Jonathan Pullen emphasized the agency’s resolve, saying, “This sentencing demonstrates the DEA’s dedication to pursuing justice, even in the hidden and complex world of the dark web.”
The investigation, conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the DEA, and IRS Criminal Investigation, was part of a broader initiative under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which aims to disrupt and dismantle major criminal organizations.
