A coordinated effort by Europol and the The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has shut down Silk Road 2.0, and could close up to 400 other dark net websites.
Silk Road operates in the deep web, or dark net, part of the internet which is only accessible through special programs like the anonymising Tor internet browser. Using Bitcoins, users could purchase illegal goods on the site and hide the transactions.
In the US, the FBI arrested Blake Benthall under suspicion of running Silk Road 2.0. The original version of the site was closed down one year ago.
Benthall is 26 years old and alleged to have operated under the online alias ‘Defcon’. He was arrested yesterday in San Francisco.
At his first court hearing a state prosecutor reported that Mr Benthall had confessed to running the site.
He has been charged with conspiring to traffic narcotics, conspiring to commit computer hacking, conspiring to traffic fraudulent identification documents and conspiring to launder money.
His arrest was part of a major international operation which was code named ‘Onymous’ and aimed at disrupting the sale of narcotics in the deep web. The action was collaboration between Europol and the FBI and involved law enforcement agencies across 17 countries.
As part of the worldwide crackdown, Gardai arrested two men in Dublin yesterday. The Garda National Drug Unit, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and the Computer Crime Investigation Unit (CCIU) searched a premise on the South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Gardai now believe that this Irish operation was distributing drugs across the world.
As part of the coordinated international effort 17 suspects are known to have been arrested in the last week, including the two Irish and six Britons.
Bitcoins worth over €800,000 and €180,000 cash have been seized, as well as firearms, drugs and computers. In Dublin alone, Gardaí recovered €180,000 worth of MDMA and LSD.
Technology website Cryptocoins News suggest that the FBI may have taken control of Silk Road 2.0 as early as October 17th. It is also believed that Silk Road 2.0 has been infiltrated by law-enforcement officials since it launched in November 2013.
