Below is the FBI complaint against the Administration of the Incognito Darknet Market.
Basically, he got caught because he was using Bitcoin, which is easy to trace. We also need to discover what "swapping service" ratted him out.
Read page 23:
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Bitcoin allowed FBI to catch Incognito Market Admin
From a Nostr user reading the FBI report:
"he got caught because he was using Bitcoin, which is easy to trace"
I would bet someone just ratted on him then they just traced back from his identity to obtain evidence. He was running the market for years, they would have got him much sooner if they were actually tracing BTC. They will always put out information in a manner that overstates their abilities, it's a psychological trick.
This guy was a scumbag, he shut down the market and stole money from users. Then he tried to extort more money by threatening to publish shipping addresses, as if they had any value.
They could've caught this dumbass years ago with BTC tracing if they really wanted. But actually, they likely wanted this guy to continue what he was doing for as long as possible. For various reasons which you can figure out if you're smart.
But nah, once he exit scammed, they had no more use for him, and him wanting to come to America was just the icing on the cake for a glorious capture to make it look like the all powerful feds captured the deep dark villian of Incognito, as you said, "psychological trick"