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SOURCE: HACKREAD
Silk Road 2.0 proves to be a One-Way ticket to Prison – The “Darknet” black marketplace Seized by FBI & suspected Operator arrested.
United States and European law enforcement agencies are on a hunting spree nowadays as around 17 individuals have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in illegal underground marketplace operations. The website Silk Road 2.0 and its operator have also been brought under the hammer as the FBI has not only seized the “darknet” marketplace but also arrested its founder and operator Blake Benthall.
Benthall is also known as “Defcon” and became the admin of Silk Road 2.0 in December 2013. The FBI statement on Thursday informed that the 26 year-old San Francisco resident Blake Benthall has been accused of four counts including narcotics trafficking, conspiring to conduct computer hacking, conspiring for money laundering and trafficking fake identification documents. This means he will be going behind the bars for a long time as only narcotics trafficking’s maximum punishment is life imprisonment.
The investigative branch of Homeland Security called Homeland Security Investigations infiltrated itself somehow into the illegal operations of Silk Road 2.0 via an undercover agent posing as support staff. The agent, according to FBI reports, gained access to the “private, restricted areas of the site reserved for Benthall and his administrative staff.” Allegedly, Benthall was overseeing the computing infrastructure management which was responsible for underpinning the website and also its code, rates of commission charged to merchants and customers and the site’s terms of service.
According to reports from The Irish Examiner it was: “An international day of action to disrupt global activity on the Darknet and remove certain websites and forums is to conclude within the next 24 hours under the FBI/Europol operation codenamed ‘Onymous’.”
Apparently, the FBI has made the world an incredibly dangerous place to reside in with the attempt of shutting down Silk Road 2.0 website and various other online drug marketplaces. It is often pointed out that the Darknet economy has made the world a safer place by taking off drug trafficking from the streets and presenting them online. By putting it online the key link in the series of violence between drug suppliers, reward sellers and end users was supposedly terminated.
Silk Road 2.0:
Silk Road 2.0 is an illegally operated online marketplace where all sorts of unlawful goods are sold including computer hacking tools, drugs and fake identity documents. Blake Benthall created it as a replica of the original Silk Road.
The website became fully operational from November 2013 and was launched on the TOR network just one month after the FBI seized the original marketplace Silk Road and its operator Ross Ulbricht aka Dread Pirate Roberts (DPR) was indicted. In October 2013, Silk Road was seized and taken down by the FBI as the authorities thought it will terminate the trend of illegal drug sales online however, the reverse has happened as many other replacements emerged such as Silk Road 2.0.
Both of the versions of Silk Road were operating via Tor network and users utilized bitcoin virtual currency for conducting transactions. This is how the anonymity of users and suppliers was ensured.
Feds described this online marketplace as a: “Hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
FBI reports reveal that Silk Road 2.0 was also involved in facilitating money laundering and its successor, i.e, the 2.0 version has generated sales of at least $8 million every month. Until September, the website has garnered subscription from around 150,000 users.
Federal authorities, in their official statement, stated that: “The sales generation of Silk Road 2.0 reveals that it was being used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors.” The officials pledged that they will “return as many times as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars.“
According to FBI statement, in mid-October the site had 13,000 listings for selling controlled substances such as different form of opiates, cannabis and ecstasy. Manhattan Attorney for United States Preet Bharara states that arresting Benthall is an attempt to send a clear message to those who are thinking of following his lead.
“Let’s be clear—this Silk Road, in whatever form, is the road to prison. Those looking to follow in the footsteps of alleged cybercriminals should understand that we will return as many times as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars. We don’t get tired,” advised Bharara.
In the court documents, the website has been described as “one of the most extensive, sophisticated and widely used criminal marketplaces on the internet today.”
Silk Road 2.0 proves to be a One-Way ticket to Prison – The “Darknet” black marketplace Seized by FBI & suspected Operator arrested.
United States and European law enforcement agencies are on a hunting spree nowadays as around 17 individuals have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in illegal underground marketplace operations. The website Silk Road 2.0 and its operator have also been brought under the hammer as the FBI has not only seized the “darknet” marketplace but also arrested its founder and operator Blake Benthall.
Benthall is also known as “Defcon” and became the admin of Silk Road 2.0 in December 2013. The FBI statement on Thursday informed that the 26 year-old San Francisco resident Blake Benthall has been accused of four counts including narcotics trafficking, conspiring to conduct computer hacking, conspiring for money laundering and trafficking fake identification documents. This means he will be going behind the bars for a long time as only narcotics trafficking’s maximum punishment is life imprisonment.
The investigative branch of Homeland Security called Homeland Security Investigations infiltrated itself somehow into the illegal operations of Silk Road 2.0 via an undercover agent posing as support staff. The agent, according to FBI reports, gained access to the “private, restricted areas of the site reserved for Benthall and his administrative staff.” Allegedly, Benthall was overseeing the computing infrastructure management which was responsible for underpinning the website and also its code, rates of commission charged to merchants and customers and the site’s terms of service.
According to reports from The Irish Examiner it was: “An international day of action to disrupt global activity on the Darknet and remove certain websites and forums is to conclude within the next 24 hours under the FBI/Europol operation codenamed ‘Onymous’.”
Apparently, the FBI has made the world an incredibly dangerous place to reside in with the attempt of shutting down Silk Road 2.0 website and various other online drug marketplaces. It is often pointed out that the Darknet economy has made the world a safer place by taking off drug trafficking from the streets and presenting them online. By putting it online the key link in the series of violence between drug suppliers, reward sellers and end users was supposedly terminated.
Silk Road 2.0:
Silk Road 2.0 is an illegally operated online marketplace where all sorts of unlawful goods are sold including computer hacking tools, drugs and fake identity documents. Blake Benthall created it as a replica of the original Silk Road.
The website became fully operational from November 2013 and was launched on the TOR network just one month after the FBI seized the original marketplace Silk Road and its operator Ross Ulbricht aka Dread Pirate Roberts (DPR) was indicted. In October 2013, Silk Road was seized and taken down by the FBI as the authorities thought it will terminate the trend of illegal drug sales online however, the reverse has happened as many other replacements emerged such as Silk Road 2.0.
Both of the versions of Silk Road were operating via Tor network and users utilized bitcoin virtual currency for conducting transactions. This is how the anonymity of users and suppliers was ensured.
Feds described this online marketplace as a: “Hidden website designed to enable its users to buy and sell illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services anonymously and beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
FBI reports reveal that Silk Road 2.0 was also involved in facilitating money laundering and its successor, i.e, the 2.0 version has generated sales of at least $8 million every month. Until September, the website has garnered subscription from around 150,000 users.
Federal authorities, in their official statement, stated that: “The sales generation of Silk Road 2.0 reveals that it was being used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors.” The officials pledged that they will “return as many times as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars.“
According to FBI statement, in mid-October the site had 13,000 listings for selling controlled substances such as different form of opiates, cannabis and ecstasy. Manhattan Attorney for United States Preet Bharara states that arresting Benthall is an attempt to send a clear message to those who are thinking of following his lead.
“Let’s be clear—this Silk Road, in whatever form, is the road to prison. Those looking to follow in the footsteps of alleged cybercriminals should understand that we will return as many times as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars. We don’t get tired,” advised Bharara.
In the court documents, the website has been described as “one of the most extensive, sophisticated and widely used criminal marketplaces on the internet today.”