Men accused of ‘dark web’ drug imports
Two Delaware County men are behind bars accused of using the “dark web” to import the deadly drugs fentanyl and carfentanil from China to Montgomery County.
Jamil I. Chapman, 27, of the 800 block of Spruce Street, Collingdale, and his nephew, Nasai J. Chapman, 23, of the first block of East Lacrosse Avenue, Lansdowne, were arraigned before District Court Judge Karen Zucker of Narberth on charges of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred between June 2017 and February 2018 in Lower and Upper Merion townships.
Zucker set each man’s bail at $250,000 cash which they were unable to post and they remain at the county jail to await their April 10 preliminary hearings.
With the charges, prosecutors alleged the men used the so-called “dark web” to order, purchase and ship the fentanyl and the deadlier
carfentanil from China to high-end apartments they rented in Lower Merion and Upper Merion.
“They’re ordering this directly from China. Fentanyl is cheap and deadly since it’s 50 times stronger than heroin. But as dangerous as fentanyl is, carfentanil is substantially more dangerous…,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. “Carfentanil is an elephant tranquilizer. This poison can incapacitate a 6,600 pound elephant. And now we’ve found that it’s being trafficked here in Montgomery County to people who think they’re buying heroin.”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro praised the law enforcement collaboration that resulted in the arrests of the two alleged drug dealers who purchased the drugs on the “dark web.”
“We’ll continue to be relentless in taking these criminals off our streets and battling the heroin and opioid epidemic across Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.
In 2017, there were 245 overdose deaths in Montgomery County and 166 of those were the result of fentanyl, officials said.
“Suffice it to say this is really deadly stuff,” Steele said. “It’s a scourge we need to rid our county of and save the lives of our residents.”
Steele said if the ongoing investigation reveals that the drugs allegedly sold by the Chapmans resulted in any overdose deaths, the men could be facing even more serious charges such as drug delivery resulting in death.
The investigation began in Lower Merion about 10 p.m. June 17, 2017, when township police responded to a residence at the Royal Athena apartment complex on Righters Ferry Road for a report of a heroin overdose and found an unconscious Jamil Chapman, who had to be revived by police with several doses of Narcan, according to the criminal complaint. Detectives also alleged Jamil Chapman possessed 20.1 grams of heroin at the time.
Detectives alleged the Chapmans were using the residence to cut and package fentanyl and carfentanil for sale.
“We don’t believe that overdose is from him taking drugs himself since by all accounts these two are not addicts, they are straight up dealers,” Steele alleged. “We believe he overdoses just by contact with these deadly drugs
and he is brought back from the brink of death by Lower Merion police.”
Three months later, on Sept. 12, 2017, the Lower Merion police investigation took authorities back to the apartment complex and during a search of an apartment linked to Jamil Chapman they found 75 bags of suspected fentanyl stamped with the name “PLUTO,” according to the arrest affidavit. Police also found the presence of carfentanil on some items.
During a search, detectives also found a Western Union money order and six Moneygram money order receipts, according to the criminal complaint. Detectives alleged those involved in purchasing drugs will often use money orders or money transfers to send money in an attempt to distance themselves directly from any money payments or transactions for the items they’re purchasing.
Detectives also searched the contents of a laptop computer found in the apartment and monitored conversations Jamil Chapman had with others after he reported to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Sept. 8, 2017, to serve a sentence for an unrelated crime, according to a criminal complaint. During the intercepted conversations Jamil and Nasai discussed a package that was supposed to arrive from overseas, detectives alleged.
Detectives also learned that before he reported to jail, Jamil Chapman rented another apartment at the Indigo complex along Village Drive in Upper Merion, according to the arrest affidavit.
Subsequently, detectives learned that the Chapmans were expecting an incoming package from China to be delivered to the Upper Merion apartment, court papers indicate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials intercepted the package incoming from Hong Kong at JFK International Airport on Oct. 25, 2017, and the investigation revealed the package contained 99 grams of fentanyl, according to the criminal complaint.
A second package was intercepted on Nov. 14, 2017, at JFK and found to contain 200 grams of fentanyl, prosecutors alleged.
The investigation also uncovered seven previous purchases from China made by the Chapmans between May and September 2017 and which were delivered to addresses in Montgomery County and Philadelphia, Steele alleged.
“These shipments of carfentanil brought on the dark web totaled, we believe, between 400 and 500 grams of carafentanil,” Steele alleged.