A 23-year-old drug dealer in North Carolina has been sentenced to 144 months in prison after being accused of using Instagram to advertise and sell drugs
Axel Rodriguez, also known as "Flash," pled guilty to conspiracy and trafficking of fentanyl on April 25, after an FBI investigation found he was selling fentanyl in the area using his social media account.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina says he is being held accountable for more than 700 grams of fentanyl and 3.6 grams of heroin.
Purported screenshots from his Instagram story included in the press release show posts featuring pictures of pills advertised as "K packs" — slang for 1,000 pills.
One post showed a picture of a pill with the comment, "For ya granny."
Investigators also found numerous posts with firearms and gang members on his Instagram account, according to officials. Prosecutors also say he used his account to intimidate an individual he suspected was a government witness while in custody, by directing someone to post a photo of the individual along with photos of sealed court documents and the image of a rat.
Investigators say Rodriguez was obtaining thousands of pills at a time and then distributing them in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The FBI conducted multiple controlled purchases of the blue pills marked "M-30" from the dealer, according to the press release. 25 were purchased from Rodriguez by the FBI detectives on March 13, 2023, and the detective in the field reported that he saw four firearms in Rodriguez's vehicle during the transaction.
The pills were reportedly tested and found positive for fentanyl.
The press release also states that in April 2023, Rodriguez was seen purchasing 8,000 pills from a dealer, and that same day, he was seen with four firearms in a townhouse, which he was using as a storage place for the pills.
After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said, "Drug traffickers are increasingly pushing deadly fake pills through social media. They've learned they don't need to stand on street corners when they can reach kids on their smart phones. Counterfeit Oxycontin, Percocet, and Xanax sold on social media are driving addiction and overdose death. It's time to get the word out and warn kids of the risks."
A 2022 report from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned of the threat of social media being used to sell drugs, saying the previous year the agency had investigated more than 80 cases involving social media in drug trafficking.
"No longer confined to street corners and the dark web, criminal drug networks are now in every home and school in America because of the internet apps on our smartphones," it read.
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About the writer
Jasmine Laws is a Live News Reporter at Newsweek based in London, U.K. Her focus is reporting on U.S. politics, ... Read more