the origin of Alaa Allawi
Alaa Allawi grew up in a town just outside of Iraq. During the time he was a teen the United States was invading Baghdad. The US military needed civilians to help guide troops through the city as well as translate for them. Alaa’s father thought this was a great opportunity for him. Despite the fact that al-Qaida was leaving anyone who helped Americans hanging from power lines.
But the military was willing to pay. They offered him $1350 dollars a month for his help. Which at the time in Iraq was good money. Once he joined the military he was dispatched to Rasheed Air Base in Baghdad. Upon arriving on the base Alaa realized how abundant steroids were. Alaa then began selling steroids to the American soldiers. Not surprising he was let go soon after the discovery.
Alaa was later picked up by a company called AGS-AECOM. His job was to do translation for operation manuals. Since it wasn’t a lot of work for him he started playing with computers and teaching himself programming. While working he acquired a reputation for pulling pranks using exploits in the software. This led to him being barred from using computers at the company. there was even a running joke around the office saying don’t let Alaa near your computer. Alternatively this didn’t lead to a termination from the company.
Since Alaa was making good money he saved up to build his own computer at home. Using this computer he developed an Iraqi dating site called iraqiaa.com. During the height of its popularity Alaa was making about 5,000 dollars a month. He soon believed he was too big for Iraq and wanted to leave.
Moving to the United States
Alaa moved to Texas and started attending The University of Texas San Antonio. After getting integrated with the culture he realized college student do a lot of drugs. He took advantage of this opportunity and started by selling weed to students on campus. he sourced the weed from a local drug dealer. later the drug dealer would sell him Adderall which he would soon start selling on campus. circumstances don’t stay the same for long though.
Alaa would later be pulled over in the passenger seat of the drug dealers car. Where the police would find 10 Adderall pill 100 Xanax bars and less than a gram of cocaine. Since Alaa had no prior convictions he would be let off with only community service. With his drug dealer going off the market he had to find a new way to obtain his supply. scouring forums he found a site called AlphaBay.
AlphaBay
Alaa would build his empire on the back of the AlphaBay website. AlphaBay drew its inspiration from the likes of silk road. The website, much like silk road, sold illegal items for bitcoin. Between The years 2015 and 2017 the site had managed to rack up over 1 billion dollars from illegal transactions. On the site Alaa went by the screen name Dopeboy210.
When Alaa first started selling on AlphaBay he would buy real drugs and remanufacture them into fake ones. Alaa would buy Adderall, blend it in a blender and add in meth then use his pill press and stamps to make them look legit. He did the same with Xanax for some time. However Alaa’s fakes didn’t stop there. He later found fentanyl from Chinese manufacturers on AlphaBay. Knowing the synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. He was about to take a step up.
Fake Pills
Alaa started selling fake oxycontin. He had developed a similar Process for the oxy that he did all of his other fake drugs. He would blend it and repress them. This time with powdered fentanyl. With the money starting to pile up Alaa didn’t have enough time to complete orders. Alaa eventually came to the conclusion that school life was only holding him back. Soon after he dropped out.
Overdose in Texas University San Antonio where Alaa used to go to school Overdoses had gone up by 540%. School admins had to do something about this. Cooperating with the authorities they traced it back to Alaa. Whom had attended the school and was the prime candidate due to his recent arrest for possession with intent to distribute.
Investigations Mounting
Hot on the trail of the biggest fake pill pusher in online history the police started investigating Alaa. Upon investigating Alaa it was apparent money was no object. With reportedly Over 30,000 dollars in jewelry, several cars and multiple properties. But how was a college dropout able to achieve wealth So early in life with no job? The authorities were able to attach his name to the dopeboy210 Alphabay account.
After getting approval the police were able to use government funds to buy some of Alaa’s drugs. They ordered 500 Adderall pills and an ounce of cocaine. Receiving the package they realized they only received only 447 pills and no cocaine. After sending the pills to the lab it was clear Alaa had no clue what he was doing or he didn’t care. Perhaps a little of both. Some pills contain more fentanyl than others, some contain no Fentanyl at all. Although having received the pills from Alaa this means they had a complete transaction as evidence. This means they have enough to make an arrest.
The End of Days
Police decided to raid the home they believed Alaa was moving pills out of. When they got in however Alaa was not there but the raid wasn’t a complete failure. They managed to seize two pill presses, and a box containing 500 grams of fentanyl powder, 500 grams of meth, 500 grams of cocaine and 10 kilos of fake oxycodone laced with fentanyl. Even though Alaa wasn’t there it wouldn’t be long before he found out. One of Alaa’s close associates who had been helping in manufacturing and distribution soon told him after going by his house. When the bust was brought to Alaa’s attention he insisted he had to see for himself.
Seeing the scene the officers had created would send them into hiding. Allawi’s initial plan was to flee to California, wait for things to cool down, then fly out of Mexico back to Iraq. However after the raid Allawi saw no signs of police. He thought he had gotten away with it. Soon he would make his way back to Texas along with his other associates. Thinking they got off scott free they went out to celebrate at a local club. Not knowing this would be one of their last nights as free men.
The Arrest
Not too long after the police would implement a coordinated apprehension of Allawi and all of his associates. While getting arrested Alaa kept telling authorities “you have nothing on me.” It soon became clear to Alaa they had all of the evidence they needed. During the trial investigators brought forth a mountain of evidence. They estimated that Allawi had made over 14 million dollars selling over 850,000 fake pills spanning 38 states.
With the evidence stacked against Alaa he took a plea deal. He pleaded to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl resulting in death or serious bodily injury. As well as using a gun during a drug crime. Alaa was sentenced to 30 years in prison. As for his other associates, they got sentences ranging from about 18 months to 10 years. As for the terms of Alaa’s plea. He is to serve his 30 years before getting deported back to Iraq.
None of this story would be possible without the help of these sources:
One thought on “The Fentanyl King of the Dark Web”