A Brooklyn couple accused of running an online drug marketplace called Astro Ape now faces federal charges in Cleveland, after undercover agents say they bought methamphetamine, cocaine and thousands of counterfeit Adderall pills laced with meth from the operation over the past several months. Matthew Nunez and Nicole LaSalle, both 30, are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in federal court in Cleveland, and prosecutors say the pair controlled access to a marketplace that shipped narcotics across the country under a cartoon astronaut ape logo.
According to Cleveland.com, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Cleveland began investigating the Astro Ape network in January and spent six months building the case before shutting the operation down. Nunez and LaSalle allegedly launched Astro Ape in April 2025 on the encrypted messaging apps Potato and Signal, connecting drug dealers with customers through a chatroom called Banana Base. Prospective buyers reportedly had to submit photos of drugs and cash before they were allowed to use the marketplace, a vetting step investigators say Nunez and LaSalle required to control who could access the network.
Federal investigators say undercover DEA agents paid about $2,500 for methamphetamine and counterfeit Adderall pills through the site, and later bought 1,025 counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine and more than a pound of methamphetamine outright. Separately, Homeland Security Investigations agents paid $30,000 for cocaine from Astro Ape and bought four pounds of the drug. In March, Franklin County Sheriff's deputies and Homeland Security Investigations agents reportedly watched an Astro Ape shipment containing about four pounds of cocaine get delivered.
Tracing the Money and the Packages
Investigators say Nunez and LaSalle received drug payments through the mail and via Bitcoin, and that agents tracked those Bitcoin transactions back to the couple. That approach mirrors how federal investigators in other darknet drug cases build evidence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has documented how agents use blockchain analysis to trace cryptocurrency payments from online drug storefronts to real identities. In that same June 2025 case, four East Coast co-conspirators were sentenced to federal prison for running darknet vendor accounts that manufactured and mailed counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine to customers nationwide via the U.S. Postal Service.
In Cleveland, agents also conducted surveillance of the couple's apartment and, per the same account from Cleveland.com, found shipping materials bearing Bugs Bunny and Mercedes-Benz logos in the couple's trash, along with packaging materials covered in suspected cocaine. Nunez and LaSalle allegedly marked their drug shipments with those same Bugs Bunny and Mercedes-Benz logos. Investigators say a confidential informant agreed to cooperate with the case, and that agents searched Nunez and LaSalle's iCloud accounts as part of the investigation.
iCloud Footage and an AI-Written Slogan
Surveillance video pulled from Nunez's iCloud account allegedly showed Nunez and LaSalle packaging counterfeit Adderall pills for shipment, and investigators say Nunez used ChatGPT to help write Astro Ape's promotional slogan. Homeland Security Investigations offices in St. Louis and New York also investigated Astro Ape and Banana Base as part of the broader probe, the report notes.
Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Nunez and LaSalle in Brooklyn, New York, where the couple is from. They are scheduled to make initial appearances in federal court in Cleveland on August 18. If convicted, the pair face the sentencing framework laid out in federal law: under 21 U.S.C. § 841, distributing or conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine or 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum of life, according to the Legal Information Institute. Under 21 U.S.C. § 846, conspiracy charges carry those same statutory penalties as the underlying offense, according to CourtCalculator.
Part of a Bigger Fake-Adderall Problem
The case fits a pattern federal authorities have flagged for years. The Drug Enforcement Administration has previously issued a public alert warning that criminal drug networks mass-produce fake Adderall pills using methamphetamine in clandestine press operations, then market them deceptively on e-commerce and messaging platforms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in a June 2024 health advisory that ongoing prescription stimulant shortages are pushing people to seek Adderall through unregulated online channels, exposing them to pills that may actually contain methamphetamine or fentanyl.
Encrypted apps like Potato Chat, which Nunez and LaSalle allegedly used to run Astro Ape, have drawn scrutiny well beyond Cleveland. A global threat assessment from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has noted that criminal syndicates frequently use the Chinese messaging app to manage illicit digital networks and private commercial channels. And a March 2025 report by Phoenix Magazine on law enforcement investigations found that young drug dealers increasingly shift from mainstream social media to encrypted apps like Telegram and Potato Chat specifically to conceal their identities.
Whether additional co-conspirators or local suppliers will be indicted alongside Nunez and LaSalle in the Northern District of Ohio remains unclear, as does the total revenue the Astro Ape operation generated. Those questions, along with whatever defense the couple's attorneys raise, are likely to surface as the case moves through federal court following the August 18 initial appearances.
