Four Arrested in LA Darknet Drug Bust as “JCODE” Operation Targets Online Drug Distribution Network

LOS ANGELES — Four men were arrested April 9 on federal charges of conspiring to distribute various drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA and ketamine on Darknet marketplaces. The arrests are the latest in the Justice Department’s ongoing JCODE efforts or Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement to address the increase of illicit vendors operating on the Darknet providing large quantities of harmful substances to thousands of people across the United States.

On April 1, 2025, a federal grand jury returned an indictment which outlines 116 overt acts that were done in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy and which charges Davit Avalyan, Hrant Gevorgyan, Hayk Grigoryan, and Gurgen Nersesyan for their roles in operating the drug distribution network which operated approximately ten Darknet vendors on 17 different markets. 

According to the indictment, various vendors operating under the names JoyInc, LaFarmacia, WhiteDoc, JanesAddiction, DaShop, WhiteRepublic, Tomorowland, PlanetHollywood, DopeValley, and Major2Minor sold cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and ketamine to drug customers on darknet markets in exchange for cryptocurrency.  The defendants then allegedly shipped the drugs throughout the United States via the United States Postal Service. According to the indictment, the defendants fulfilled drug orders through the various vendor accounts by packaging the drugs into parcels and by delivering those parcels to post offices and mailboxes in Los Angeles County and elsewhere.

JoyInc is believed to have been operating since at least 2018 and is one of the most prolific methamphetamine and cocaine distributors to ever operate on the Darknet.

An example of vendor JoyInc on the Drughub marketplace selling ketamine, MDMA, and bulk options of cocaine on September 4, 2024, is depicted below.

Wednesday’s arrests, agents served multiple federal search warrants and found evidence to include large amounts of cash, distribution amounts of suspected drugs.

The defendants were arrested April 10 in the cities of Glendale and Sherman Oaks without incident and all four had an initial appearance the same afternoon before a federal magistrate in United States District Court in Los Angeles.   

An indictment is an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, Avalyan, Gevorgyan, Grigoryan and Nersesyan face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. 

The Justice Department established the FBI-led JCODE team to lead and coordinate government efforts to detect, disrupt, and dismantle major criminal enterprises reliant on the darknet for trafficking opioids and other illicit narcotics, along with identifying and dismantling their supply chains.