A federal task force has brought down the largest fentanyl drug lab in history by using undercover agents who ferreted out the operator selling on the dark web from his home in Los Angeles, authorities said Monday.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and others described in a press conference how they worked to bring down dark web kingpin Christopher Hampton, 36, who created his own manufacturing and distribution business selling more than a million fentanyl and methamphetamine pills.
The packaging and distribution arm of the business moved from his home to a basement in Inglewood, near downtown Los Angeles. Much of what Hampton learned was gleaned from the Quora research website, but he also had questions about law enforcement. During that time, Hampton appeared to be increasingly paranoid about getting caught and asked a series of questions like, “Can FBI or CIA track your messages from your phone?” and “What are the telltale signs of an undercover FBI agent?”