An underground website called Silk Road that the FBI says served as a major marketplace for drug dealers and hackers has been shut down and the owner has been arrested and accused of trafficking and conspiracy, including a murder-for-hire plot targeting a user of the site. Jonathan Dienst reports
An underground website called Silk Road that the FBI says served as a major marketplace for drug dealers and hackers has been shut down and the owner has been arrested and accused of trafficking and conspiracy, including a murder-for-hire plot targeting a user of the site.
Officials called Silk Road the most “sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet.”
Prosecutors in New York said Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers and hundreds of thousands of customers from across the globe in its two years of operation.
Justice Department officials said more than $1 billion in sales took place and the website took in more than $80 million in commissions. The drugs included Ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, and LSD, and the site also advertised services for other illegal activities, prosecutors said.
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Alleged website owner Ross William Ulbricht – known as “Dread Pirate Roberts” – was arrested at a library in San Francisco Tuesday by the FBI. He is accused of setting up a special network that would help drug dealers avoid detection by hiding IP addresses.
“Silk Road” also used internet currency known as bitcoins to help facilitate the illegal deals, prosecutors said.
In addition to drugs, the FBI said the site also had listings for computer-hacking services, and listed pirated media for sale.
According to the criminal complaint, undercover law enforcement officers made more than 100 purchases of drugs like cocaine, LSD and heroin from Silk Road vendors. In one two-month period, the FBI said there were more than 1.2 million messages exchanged through Silk Road.
Investigators said Ulbricht had a small staff of workers who helped administer the website who were paid between $1,000 to $2,000 per week.
The FBI said Ulbricht once tried to hire a hit man to kill a Silk Road user who had been trying to extort $500,000 from him or else he would “leak” names of users.
Investigators said Ulbricht offered $80,000 and the name and address to the online hit man, and details about his family. The intended target was not killed, officials said.
Charges against Ulbricht include narcotics trafficking, hacking conspiracy and money laundering.
