A Glendale man was sentenced Tuesday to almost five years in federal prison for his role in a nationwide darknet drug distribution operation, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
Davit Avalyan, 36, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute various drugs — cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — on hidden online marketplaces in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Avalyan was one of three others arrested last year on federal charges alleging they ran a drug ring that operated on darknet marketplaces between September 2018 and February 2025, packing small-scale drug orders into parcels and depositing them at post offices and postal mailboxes in Los Angeles County and elsewhere, according to the DOJ.
Chino Hills man, 65, worked as Chinese ‘covert agent’ in Southern California
They reportedly maintained darknet drug vendor accounts, including JoyInc, which is believed to have been operating since 2018 and is considered one of the “most prolific methamphetamine and cocaine distributors to ever operate on the darknet.”…