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Feds shutter online narcotics store that used TOR to hide its tracks

Vader

Vader

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Federal authorities have arrested eight men accused of distributing more than $1 million worth of LSD, ecstasy, and other narcotics with an online storefront that used the TOR anonymity service to mask their Internet addresses.

"The Farmer's Market," as the online store was called, was like an Amazon for consumers of controlled substances, according to a 66-page indictment unsealed on Monday. It offered online forums, Web-based order forms, customer service, and at least four methods of payment, including PayPal and Western Union. From January 2007 to October 2009, it processed some 5,256 orders valued at $1.04 million. The site catered to about 3,000 customers in 35 countries, including the United States.

To elude law enforcement officers, the operators used software provided by the TOR Project that makes it virtually impossible to track the activities of users' IP addresses. The alleged conspirators also used IP anonymizers and covert currency transactions to cover their tracks. The indictment, which cited e-mails sent among the men dating back to 2006, didn't say how investigators managed to infiltrate the site or link it to the individuals accused of running it.

Prosecutors said in a press release that the charges were the result of a two-year investigation led by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles field division. "Operation Adam Bomb, " as the investigation was dubbed, also involved law enforcement agents from several US states and several countries, including Colombia, the Netherlands, and Scotland.

Lead defendant Marc Willem was arrested on Monday at his home in Lelystad, Netherlands, federal prosecutors said in a press release. On Sunday, authorities arrested Michael Evron, a US citizen who lives in Argentina as he was attempting to leave Colombia. The remaining defendants—Jonathan Colbeck, Brian Colbeck, Ryan Rawls, Jonathan Dugan, George Matzek, and Charles Bigras—were arrested at their respective homes in Iowa, Michigan, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Attempts to reach the men for comment weren't immediately successful.

The 12-count indictment charges all eight men with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and to launder money. Several of them are also charged with distributing LSD and taking part in a continuing criminal enterprise. Each faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The arrests come about a year after Gawker documented the existence of Silk Road, an online narcotics storefront that was available only to TOR users. The site sold LSD, Afghani hashish, tar heroin and other controlled substances and allowed customers to pay using the virtual currency known as Bitcoin, the article reported. It wasn't immediately clear what the relationship between Silk Road and Farmer's Market is.

Farmer's Market had thousands of registered users who hailed from every one of the states of the United States and the District of Columbia, as well as 34 other countries, according to prosecutors. The site relied on multiple sources of various controlled substances. The suppliers, operators, and customers communicated primarily through the website's internal private messaging system.

In addition to the eight arrests, authorities arrested seven other people on Monday. In the course of the arrests, authorities seized hash, LSD, and MDMA, in addition to an indoor psychotripic mushroom grow and three indoor marijuana growing operations.
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Interesting. I feel sorry for those caught since they'll almost certainly be made an example of to try discourage others, but I'd say it's too late at this stage. The floodgate is open, and drug availability on the internet is only going to become more common.
 
Weed, LSD, and MDMA help people to relax, enjoy themselves, release creativity, express joy, and overcome psychological trauma.

Millions of total dollars were presumably spent by several governments to stop people from doing these things.

All the while, real problems in the world are ignored.

And those caught have to suffer for the rest of their lives...
 
US busts online drugs market

From the BBC:
The US authorities say they have busted a secret internet drugs market, where people around the world could buy LSD, ecstasy and other illegal substances.

The ring - The Farmer's Market - is said to have operated through a computer network which allows users to communicate anonymously.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17738207

Tor: Not so anonymous as one might believe 8o
 
:-( stories like this sadden me.... If its all out the public eye why not leave it be? :-(
 
Well it's no Silk Road, that's for sure. It seems like just any old illegal vendor site that actually sells legit stuff. I'm sure some of them will think twice before shipping to the US now.

We sure love these tacky names for drug investigations here. "Operation Adam Bomb" was alright, but I think my favorite was the quaalude ring that got busted from "Operation Lude Behaviour."
 
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"The Farmer's Market reportedly provided order forms, customer service and accepted payments through PayPal, Western Union and other means."

Hardly that difficult to trace then? The currency was obviously the fatal flaw. Well, that and dealing to Americans. They ruin all the fun.
 
They used pay pal and Western Union. That was the fatal flaw. Silk Road uses bitcoins which are WAY harder to trace. Not impossible but just really difficult.

Western Union can be traced because some transactions require ID.
 
freddy47 said:
They used pay pal and Western Union. That was the fatal flaw. Silk Road uses bitcoins which are WAY harder to trace. Not impossible but just really difficult.

Western Union can be traced because some transactions require ID.
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This

notice the feds "refused to say how they tracked them down". They dont want to admit the only reason they were able to charge them was because the operators fucked up.
 
You'd have to be an idiot to buy/sell drugs openly with paypal or western union :|
 
In 2006, when the business was launched, Marc Willems from the Netherlands, the mastermind of the scheme, and his right hand man, Argentinian Michael Evron, relied on Hushmail. At the time, the company offered encrypted email services and many believed that it didn’t collaborate with law enforcement agencies.

In 2010 they moved to TOR to ensure that their operations wouldn’t easily be discovered.

It’s uncertain if investigators managed to gather any evidence during the time the group used TOR for anonymity. However, a large part of the information on which the prosecution will rely in this case is based on data obtained between 2007 and 2009 when the defendants utilized Hushmail services.
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Makes me feel a little better about using TOR...and also because of the whole bitcoins vs Paypal/Western Union thing, which some of you pointed out.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Members-of-TOR-Based-Online-Drug-Market-Arrested-264777.shtml
 
Oh well, at least the street dealers are happy with these reports. The unscrupulous ones can still carry on selling their usual shit with no fear of public 'user reports'.

A little over $1 million worth of drug sales? Pathetic return for their expensive 2 year investigation. Way to go guys. Impressive stuff.
 
shitty situation.. its past old that the govt thinks they have to control everything.. where did the idea even come from that they cant tell somebody what they can and cant put in their own body, as long at it dosent effect anybody else.. power hungry motherfuckers, i bet they all got little pinky sized dicks and thats why they are just mad at the world thinking they can control everything
 
shimazu said:
notice the feds "refused to say how they tracked them down". They dont want to admit the only reason they were able to charge them was because the operators fucked up.
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Yep, the feds definitely took more credit for this bust than they were due. In addition, by leaving it unsaid where they got their info, they sow seeds of doubt about TOR's ability to fully hide someone. One important part of making an example out of these guys is making other TOR-using contraband dealers feel unsafe.

On a similar note, the whole nabbing people who were "hiding" in distant parts of the globe was a nice touch. Again, the message is loud and clear: the all-seeing eye of the US government is staring at you right now, druggie.
 
Tor is not really a secure network. It's just someone else's private network that you use for browsing. I'm sure the Fed has already weaseled its way in by now, or someone in the Tor network itself sold out this company.
 
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