FBI raids alleged online drug market Silk Road, arrests owner

Transform said:
They will go for the low hanging fruit. It is hard to penetrate cartels but here they are with order details and addresses. All they need to do is say "this person ordered xg of substance Y and they still live at 123 fake st., can we have a warrant? You think the judge will say no?
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That is simplifying it quite a bit. Furthermore, it is not like purchasers from street dealers are targeted when they are overheard on a tapped phone or something like that. Just doesn't make much sense and is a waste of resources.

Also, it isn't all that difficult for large government agencies to penetrate cartels by any means. Difficult to bring them down, but not that difficult to get undercovers into the organization and members to flip.

Beefy said:
WOW! I just heard of this. And i've gotten stuff from there before. I hope they don't go after the users. or the small time users. Cause i saw some people were in the 20-30k range of money spent on the site. I was like, whoa! lucky bastards! But after this, maybe not so lucky. I wonder how the FBI/NSA did it. But we all know there will be others. There are 2 open sites now like SR, So idk...close one and like 3 open up. And then there are all the sellers who might still deal with people who have their emails.
I'm reading the SR forums now, and people seem to think it's been hacked instead of seized by the government. So who knows? Maybe it just got hacked...Until i see it on the news(This would make a HUGE news story), I'm gonna remain optimistic.
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It has been on the news. I am not sure if I have seen any federal agencies make statements about the seizure though, however, the federal government is shut down.
 
Beefy said:
WOW! I just heard of this. And i've gotten stuff from there before. I hope they don't go after the users. or the small time users. Cause i saw some people were in the 20-30k range of money spent on the site. I was like, whoa! lucky bastards! But after this, maybe not so lucky. I wonder how the FBI/NSA did it. But we all know there will be others. There are 2 open sites now like SR, So idk...close one and like 3 open up. And then there are all the sellers who might still deal with people who have their emails.
I'm reading the SR forums now, and people seem to think it's been hacked instead of seized by the government. So who knows? Maybe it just got hacked...Until i see it on the news(This would make a HUGE news story), I'm gonna remain optimistic.
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Wow!! I wonder...

I'm sorry..I don't mean to be rude..but the answer to that question is right here in this thread here at our very own BL!..just read back through this thread and you will have your answer...imagine that..seriously, that what this thread is about..if you read it back a little ways.

*edit*

And it didn't just get hacked...these many media stories weren't just made up by the hackers so it would look real!

There is a difference in being optimistic and...well..just not facing reality..
 
The mere appearance of a story on the news doesn't certify its veracity. You have to verify the sources. Conveniently, you cannot verify the sources at this time because the US government is shut down. The FBI and friends are not posting news releases on their websites.

So then, does anyone know whether or not any arm of law enforcement is verifying this?
 
23536 said:
The mere appearance of a story on the news doesn't certify its veracity. You have to verify the sources. Conveniently, you cannot verify the sources at this time because the US government is shut down. The FBI and friends are not posting news releases on their websites.

So then, does anyone know whether or not any arm of law enforcement is verifying this?
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You are quite right and I apologize for being irritable.

There is no doubt that SR is shut down though and I also feel that if a hacker got in and shut it down that the government would like even bigger idiots if they laid claim and then it was revealed to be a hacker and not them.

I am also quite sure that the story that we are being fed at this time is not completely true (is it ever when the government is involved?) And we probably will never know the whole truth..either on the case of how exactly it was done or any other pertinent facts. One should always take any story that the media presents with a grain of salt and this is especially so when it involves information that is being fed to them from the government.

I will aslo look back and find the quote (though not an official statement) that was given by the FBI agent that was in charge of the operation. Also, there is the warrant that was signed by the judge..of course I guess you could argue that thewarrant. Is just a made up document by the hacker too if you wanted.
 
phactor said:
Good advice, but I do not think those arrests occurred because the "US demanded the UK" make them.
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The cop who arrested someone I know said "You can thank the DEA for this" so obviously the DEA made the effort to give the UK police buyers addresses. I suppose if you've got the DEA saying "Here's drug users addresses" the obvious implication is you go and arrest them - if only to be a "good law enforcement partner".
 
Ismene said:
The cop who arrested someone I know said "You can thank the DEA for this" so obviously the DEA made the effort to give the UK police buyers addresses. I suppose if you've got the DEA saying "Here's drug users addresses" the obvious implication is you go and arrest them - if only to be a "good law enforcement partner".
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Again, the UK made the ultimate decision to act and arrest the individuals. To suggest that the US "demanded" the UK to make those arrests is hyperbolic. The UK is a sovereign nation state. Not the United States. Like I said, I do not remember any American purchasers that were arrested because of that site being taken down. The admins of the sites were arrested, but that was because they were linked back to at least two overdose fatalities.

The US and the UK share information with each other all the time. Allies tend to do that.
 
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whata a load of BS. i dont think its some coincidence atlatis lured a bunch of sr customers away then suddenly they both dissapear. slimy government fuck wads.
 
phactor said:
Again, the UK made the ultimate decision to act and arrest the individuals.
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Sure, but you wonder who made the first move. Would the UK really have demanded they hand the addresses over? Maybe - UK pigs are as bad as US pigs. But the americans do tend to lead the world in draconian measures on drugs so I tend to think the US said "Here, take appropriate action and impress your american masters with your zeal".
 
Yeah, kid definitely wasn't the brightest star in the sky according to those papers. Dealing with bank accounts in DC, hit men, and drug selling on his own? Why even bother with ANYONE on that website if its your 'baby'? Hitmen are almost ALWAYS uc's, especially if he never met this guy!!!! Wow it was definitely oy a matter of time before he was busted. Surprised the site lasted that long. Also ordering fake ID's through his own website with his own picture on them? What was this kid thinking? He totally was in WAY over his head! IMO after he made enough money to live comfortably he should've abandoned ship, and called it a day, or maybe sold it to someone more able to deal with all the semantic....
 
I think its interesting to look at this case as if those agencies weren't involved... If those agencies weren't involved and promoting such things a trying to get DPR to broker a deal involving large quantities of drugs or had not made the man fear for his life by threatening to reveal clients names would he have ever decided to try to have someone killed... It seems like the agencies kinda created allot of what they busted him for... allot of home cooking here to make this man look like a murderous scourge. Wonder if they hadn't done this whether this market would have continued relatively peacefully. I also wish that he had kept it to drugs and not involved what I consider things that are real crimes.. I hate how drug users are always grouped with criminals and I think the fact that SR also brokered in true crime did nothing do help this problem.
 
I'm sorry to be "that guy" here, but how could anyone not see this coming?

It was a countdown to a big bust from day 1.

Take this as a lesson. Don't use any technology when acquiring drugs. Meet your people face to face and talk. No phones, and damn sure no internet. Pretend its 1975. No matter how l337 you think you are, using technology in the furtherance of illegal activity will get you caught.
 
neversickanymore said:
I think its interesting to look at this case as if those agencies weren't involved... If those agencies weren't involved and promoting such things a trying to get DPR to broker a deal involving large quantities of drugs or had not made the man fear for his life by threatening to reveal clients names would he have ever decided to try to have someone killed... It seems like the agencies kinda created allot of what they busted him for... allot of home cooking here to make this man look like a murderous scourge. Wonder if they hadn't done this whether this market would have continued relatively peacefully. I also wish that he had kept it to drugs and not involved what I consider things that are real crimes.. I hate how drug users are always grouped with criminals and I think the fact that SR also brokered in true crime did nothing do help this problem.
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Very interesting viewpoint neversick.

I wish that it was kept to just drugs too; and like you said, it went on relatively peacefully for years without incident. Drugs do not create monsters, nor are drug users monsters.
 
Roger&Me said:
I'm sorry to be "that guy" here, but how could anyone not see this coming?

It was a countdown to a big bust from day 1.

Take this as a lesson. Don't use any technology when acquiring drugs. Meet your people face to face and talk. No phones, and damn sure no internet. Pretend its 1975. No matter how l337 you think you are, using technology in the furtherance of illegal activity will get you caught.
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I don't know what l337 is. Just because SR got busted doesn't mean other long time internet vendors are not still out there. If you use a laptop you only have for business and free wi fi hotspots (more than 1 like DPR) the chance of getting busted is small. People mocked me for saying it, don't care: covering your webcam with tape is one the most important things a vendor should do too.
You can still pick up western union payments with just a code if its 999 dollars or less, and for a six pack you get a hobo to do it and avoid cameras. Same guy who you get to buy your stamps. This is all Mickey Mouse stuff though and if you didn't already know it you should not be starting a website. IMO opinion Bitcoin wasn't an improvement in paying for online drugs at all either.
The weak spot in in a drug website is not IP addresses. Safe drug sites existed before TOR. DPR doesn't sound like he followed online drug scene prior to starting this. People used to rely on Hushmail and that company turned over info no problem, why he thought the virtual private network would not co operate is beyond me. The best way to run a drug site, and no one wants to hear this, but keep it small. When it gets too big shut it down, or at least shut it to new customers.
And all you SR customers who are now desperate, you don't want to hear this either, but do NOT jump on the next boat that comes by you need to wait and see what is legit. I understand SR had a very low rate of scamming (escrow was great idea) but the next site may not. Traditionally drug sites have huge scam rates, be careful. People keep saying how fast new sites will open, but this is the worst time to buy drugs online.
The next DPR should set up in Iran or some other hostile nation anyway, insanity to do it in USA.
 
I don't know what l337
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It means 'elite' (31337, shortened to '1337) used to be used alot by hackers and wanna bees to say how 'good' they thought they were with computer shit.

...I think.
 
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