AlphaBay Fentanyl Vendor “NarcoBoss” Guilty of ODs

A federal jury in Portland, Oregon, found a Pennsylvania man guilty of distributing fentanyl that led to three overdoses, two of which resulted in death.

Henry Konah Koffie

According to an announcement by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, from at least May 2016 through July 2017, 37-year-old Henry Konah Koffie distributed large quantities of fentanyl through the now-defunct AlphaBay dark web marketplace under the "DNMKingpin" and "NarcoBoss" vendor profiles.
Law enforcement agencies in Portland became aware of Koffie's drug trafficking operation after a 19-year-old student at Portland State University overdosed on May 2, 2016, after taking a powder of suspected furanyl fentanyl. On being questioned, the student's supplier told the cops that he had purchased the fentanyl from DNMKingpin on AlphaBay.
A team of investigators from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), HSI, and USPIS launched investigations into the drug trafficking operation in May 2017 after cops linked NarcoBoss to two fatal overdoses in Portland.
In the first case, on May 6, 2017, a 27-year-old in Portland overdosed and died after consuming fentanyl. The victim’s roommates told the cops that the victim had been ordering fentanyl from NarcoBoss on AlphaBay. One of the roommates admitted to the cops that he and the victim had ordered a gram of fentanyl from the vendor for $40 and that the fentanyl was mailed from Philadelphia.
On May 29, 2017, another 27-year-old overdosed and died. In the victim’s residence, the cops found a furanyl fentanyl vial as well as a notebook with login credentials to an AlphaBay account and a Bitcoin wallet. The officers also found a mailing envelope with a Philadelphia return address in the victim’s trash can.
The investigators made five undercover purchases of what NarcoBoss described as “China White Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl Mix,” between May 25 and June 21, 2017. All five drug packages mailed to the investigators by the vendor had return addresses in Philadelphia.
Investigators in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania intercepted several packages that resembled those shipped to law enforcement in Portland in the undercover purchases. The investigators reportedly found Koffie’s fingerprints on the furanyl fentanyl packages.
The investigators established that from July 2016 to June 16, 2017, NarcoBoss fulfilled at least 3,700 orders on AlphaBay. And in the process, distributed a total of more than 7 kilograms of fentanyl. The sales earned Koffie bitcoin worth at least $284,800 at the time.
The investigations also revealed that Koffie imported more than 14 packages of fentanyl from China and Hong Kong and had them shipped to his family members' residences. In May and June 2017, the CBP intercepted two such packages shipped to Koffie and seized a total of 500 grams of furanyl fentanyl.
On July 2017, the investigators executed search warrants on residences associated with Koffie. The searches resulted in the seizure of 500 grams of fentanyl, a binding agent for pill production, scales, electronic devices, and bank statements as well as records of the drug trafficking operation. The investigators also seized approximately $137,000 from Koffie’s bank accounts.
On August 1, 2017, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania filed a four-count indictment that charged Koffie with four counts of distributing furanyl fentanyl.
On September 20, 2017, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charged Koffie with one count each of distributing a controlled substance and distributing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a playground.
On April 21, 2021, a federal jury in Oregon charged Koffie with one count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, and five counts of distribution of a controlled substance.
The federal jury in Oregon convicted Koffie of all the charges on March 7, 2023.
United States District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman will sentence Koffie on May 30, 2023. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $10 million fine, and three years of supervised release.
The two cases against the defendant in Pennsylvania are still pending.