Russia gives life sentence to Hydra dark web kingpin after seizing a ton of drugs

A Russian court has handed a life sentence to the head of the infamous online drugs souk Hydra, and 15 of his co-conspirators will also spend many years behind bars.

The leader of the gang, Stanislav Moiseev, received a life sentence and a fine of four million rubles (about $37,500) for running the online marketplace. Others associated with the enterprise received sentences ranging from eight to 23 years and were slapped with a series of fines totaling 16 million rubles ($150,000).

"The Moscow Regional Court, based on the verdict of a panel of jurors, issued a guilty verdict in a criminal case " state media reported, in a story that names Moiseev and 15 others.

The group was charged with production and sale of psychotropic substances and drugs. The gang will reportedly serve their time in the harshest of penal camps. Which may explain why they are reportedly appealing the verdict.

Hydra was set up in 2015, primarily as a drugs market. It was taken down by international police action in 2022, when its servers were seized.

It appears that evidence of the gang’s activities reached Russian authorities as a series of raids in Russia and Belarus saw police seize nearly a ton of illegal narcotics, plus cars, houses, and other assets belonging to the gang.

According to prosecutors the site was processing transactions worth around a billion rubles ($9,300,000) a year.

One name not on the list of those sentenced was Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov, who was accused of being Hydra's IT admin by US authorities and is already in custody after his arrest in 2022.

Russian crimefighters have had a busy start to the week. On Monday they announced the arrest of Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, who is accused of being a major player in the REvil ransomware scene.

It appears that Matveev was actively going after Russian targets, leading to his arrest.

The Hydra gang takedown may have had more to do with state security.

"The perpetrators offered internet users to commit terrorist acts, including those directed against the state power of the Russian Federation, as well as other crimes, for monetary compensation," the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared in a statement, as reported by local media. "According to the available information, the announcements calling for illegal acts are distributed by call centers located in Ukraine." ®