ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two brothers from Jacksonville, Fla., were arrested Friday on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute nitazenes, synthetic opioids that match or surpass fentanyl in potency.
Federal law enforcement initiated the investigation following a fatal overdose in Arlington, Va., according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia.
Vladislav Chernyshov, 35 and Stanislav Chernyshov, 30, operated on the darknet under the moniker “BarbaraWhite,” court documents state. Prosecutors allege the pair distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills that were marketed as “fent free” despite containing powerful synthetic opioids, the news release states.
Laboratory analysis of the counterfeit pills bearing markings that mimicked legitimate oxycodone found them laced with several nitazenes, the news release states. The identified substances included Protonitazene, Metonitazene, N-Pyrrolidino Etonitazene and N-Pyrrolidino Isotonitazene.
Vladislav Chernyshov is a naturalized U.S. citizen, while Stanislav Chernyshov is a Russian national residing illegally in Jacksonville, the news release states.
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