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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 18,774
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs
#18878888 - 09/23/13 01:11 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs newsday.com
Silk Road, an online marketplace considered by authorities to be a hub of illegal Internet drug sales, is being used to purchase heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, LSD, Ecstasy and other drugs, according to law enforcement sources.
Authorities have been unable to track the location of the website's servers, the sources said, because Silk Road can only be accessed using encryption software called Tor, which hides computers' IP addresses and allows users to surf the Web anonymously.
Tech-savvy Long Island and New York City residents are using the site, which authorities estimate has facilitated more than $30 million in annual sales, the sources said. The site came online in February 2011.
These law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice are investigating the site.
Drug war's new front
Silk Road's success has signaled the opening of a new front in the battle against illegal drugs, officials say, in which dealers and customers use technology to hide their identities and flout state and federal laws.
Among the drug buyers on Silk Road are computer users in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, the sources said. The number of customers in the metropolitan area is unclear, because of the difficulty investigators have in tracking Silk Road orders to precise locations.
"Silk Road is a dangerous and destructive website that facilitates crime and poses a true danger to people across the country," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called on the federal government to shut down the site.
The DEA said officials are aware of Silk Road and are being "very proactive in keeping abreast" of the high-tech tools online drug sellers use to avoid detection.
Silk Road's customers sell drugs and other items to one another through the online marketplace and, like users of legitimate shopping sites, rate delivery performance as well as the quality of the products they buy, authorities say. Other illicit items are also available, including forged documents and untaxed cigarettes.
To make sure the money exchanged on Silk Road can't be traced back to customers, the site uses a digital, untraceable currency called Bitcoins, which are purchased anonymously online with real money. Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price.
After a purchase is made, sellers are instructed to ship drugs through the postal service in vacuum-sealed packs, while buyers are advised to have shipments mailed to post office boxes or locations other than their home. Upon delivery of the drugs, Bitcoins are transferred from buyer to seller via a secure escrow account on the site. Silk Road takes a commission of up to 10 percent on all sales.
A successful system
"So far, unfortunately, their system has been somewhat successful," said a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation into the site. "Our goal is to make sure that doesn't continue to be the case."
Federal charges have yet to be brought against the site or its administrators, but another law enforcement source involved in the Silk Road probe said high-tech investigative methods used by the government are helping investigators build a case.
Those methods include encryption-cracking technology and the exploitation of security weaknesses in some encrypted email and instant message software used by Silk Road customers, the source said.
Efforts to find any known operator of Silk Road were unsuccessful.
Risks remain the same
Anti-drug activist Alex Rice, 38, formerly of Massapequa, said he routinely speaks to children about the dangers of the site. He said his son, Aaron, narrowly survived an overdose in 2011 from heroin he had purchased from a user on Silk Road.
"The risks posed by the drugs on this website are just as high as on the street, in terms of how quickly they can kill you or get you sent to jail," said Rice, who now lives in south Florida, where he talks to youth groups about avoiding drug use. "To gain all this knowledge of encryption and computers only to throw it away on buying and selling drugs online . . . I can't imagine more of a waste of knowledge."
"I hope it doesn't take someone dying to get it shut down," he said.
Suffolk Police Deputy Chief of Detectives Mark Griffiths said the department's cybercrime and drug investigators are keeping tabs on Silk Road, as well as other drug trafficking sites.
"We are actively monitoring it," Griffiths said. "We work with DEA and the U.S. postal inspector, and keep abreast of all the technological changes."
Nassau police declined to comment on the site and referred questions to the DEA.
Andrew Kratz, a corporate Web security consultant from Southampton, said Silk Road has "perfected" the anonymous online drug trade and will be "tough to take down."
"The people who run that site are very, very good at what they do," Kratz said. "But so is the Department of Justice."
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Sell Your Soul
Nutmeg shaman


Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 40,819
Loc: Over there
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Ythan]
#18878930 - 09/23/13 01:22 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Fortunately, I have never made a purchase from that site.
Also, the DEA can go fuck themselves.
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POWAtrippin
Decidedly Undecided.



Registered: 10/22/08
Posts: 2,207
Loc: zone 9b
Last seen: 1 month, 19 days
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Ythan]
#18878994 - 09/23/13 01:40 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Been talking about this shit for months. Its really not a good idea.
-------------------- Don't believe everything you think. TRADE LIST ‹Sell Your Soul› You know this place is owned and operated by the Illuminati, right? ‹lsdwithme› i possibly just smoked a rat turd
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Konyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
Loc: Planet Piss
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: POWAtrippin]
#18879083 - 09/23/13 02:26 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Make such a big deal and they don't even know where it's located
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AlmostAsCoolAs


Registered: 11/14/09
Posts: 7,215
Loc: California
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Sell Your Soul] 2
#18879284 - 09/23/13 05:39 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Sell Your Soul said: Fortunately, I have never made a purchase from that site.
Also, the DEA can go fuck themselves. 
Yeah so fortunate that you refuse to buy high purity drugs anonymously.
The DEA have been trying to infiltrate SR for years with no success.
--------------------
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JacksonMetaller
Stranger

Registered: 03/13/11
Posts: 13,361
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: AlmostAsCoolAs] 6
#18879316 - 09/23/13 05:56 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Lol this news article was probably set up as a scare tactic. Money says the Feds don't have shit on their location
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jimiandtheshroom27
Lost in endless spirals.


Registered: 04/25/13
Posts: 228
Loc:
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Ythan]
#18879417 - 09/23/13 06:54 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Anti-drug activist Alex Rice, 38, formerly of Massapequa, said he routinely speaks to children about the dangers of the site. He said his son, Aaron, narrowly survived an overdose in 2011 from heroin he had purchased from a user on Silk Road.
Must've been pretty pure stuff i imagine
-------------------- Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light Or just another lost angel? City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, woo, c'mon
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my3rdeye



Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 4,354
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: jimiandtheshroom27] 4
#18879450 - 09/23/13 07:19 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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At least he can turn his son's OD into something positive. Like a job for himself!
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Sillyputty67

Registered: 10/06/12
Posts: 2,239
Loc: Netherlands
Last seen: 9 years, 5 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs *DELETED* [Re: jimiandtheshroom27]
#18879458 - 09/23/13 07:21 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Post deleted by malicomReason for deletion: 1
-------------------- 1) Everything I ever posted or say is a lie.
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PsYcHoDoUgHbOy
Connoisseur



Registered: 08/11/08
Posts: 1,481
Last seen: 2 years, 10 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Sillyputty67]
#18879505 - 09/23/13 07:45 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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The "vendors" never ship from a real address, so the DEA buying drugs from the silk road is kind of a joke. Sure, they can get a state/area, but there is no way they are going to find an individual. (unless the seller is dumb as fuck)
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Greendreams

Registered: 01/07/08
Posts: 3,863
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs *DELETED* [Re: PsYcHoDoUgHbOy]
#18879613 - 09/23/13 08:39 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Post deleted by Greendreams
Reason for deletion: .
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LuSiD enthusiast
Stranger

Registered: 03/14/13
Posts: 4,325
Last seen: 4 years, 9 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Greendreams]
#18879628 - 09/23/13 08:43 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Using tax money to buy drugs smh these fuckers should be the first to get mandatory drug testing on a weekly basis, if anyone does.
-------------------- I'm addicted to coke, weed, booze, ludes and speed. Not LSD, you can't get addicted to LSD, it was built by scientists. I ain't got no demons that gonna get woke. In erowid we trust. Just take your damn pills and don't ask any questions, you'll be fine.
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dirty
super sketch



Registered: 08/18/13
Posts: 120
Loc: stateside
Last seen: 9 years, 9 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: LuSiD enthusiast]
#18879669 - 09/23/13 09:03 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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well, I think the war on drugs will never end. They cant even keep drugs out of prison so how will they police the world when they don't even know who to be watching.
-------------------- "In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom" -J.G. Ballard "Why isn't there a strain yet called Rubix Cubensis?" -Fraggin
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Repertoire89
Cat



Registered: 11/15/12
Posts: 21,773
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: JacksonMetaller]
#18879754 - 09/23/13 09:24 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
JacksonMetaller said: Lol this news article was probably set up as a scare tactic. Money says the Feds don't have shit on their location
Couldn't be anything else without arrests having been made, if they could they would be bragging about ruining some honest business man's life and saying no one is safe from them. Instead they're just making threats.
The DEA are the new Inquisitors
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Deemstar
Doctor Deemstar



Registered: 10/11/12
Posts: 883
Loc: The void
Last seen: 15 days, 14 hours
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: dirty] 4
#18879793 - 09/23/13 09:33 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Wow, what an informative article, now I know how to access the Silk Road, what I can find there, how to order, and that the DEA can't do jack shit. "The people that run the site are very, very good at what they do." If they say that, must be legit right?
-------------------- Gnome-miii-odd JAH!!! Pasta-far-eye! R.I.P. Georgie poor G A.K.A. Jorgon Lucy
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CounterCulturest
-Positive Mental Attitude-

Registered: 01/18/10
Posts: 3,662
Loc: Nesting on modems
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Deemstar]
#18879864 - 09/23/13 09:55 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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It could be so hard to catch a seller. One might be doing all the works on a sight and using a two way radio to relay the information to another guy in a different house on the same block about the amount of product to ship to x address. It still seems likes to me the only risk is being a buyer and giving up your address (and lots of the time name). Sellers seem relatively safe. That system is obviously well run and I don't doubt that the administration has something up their sleeves to protect their identity. They are good though... This business is already worth A LOT of $ and they can probably pay for really nice protection.
This will be very interesting to see though.
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Samuel L Jackson
Bad Motherfucker


Registered: 12/10/09
Posts: 8,391
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: AlmostAsCoolAs]
#18879886 - 09/23/13 10:02 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
AlmostAsCoolAs said:
Quote:
Sell Your Soul said: Fortunately, I have never made a purchase from that site.
Also, the DEA can go fuck themselves. 
Yeah so fortunate that you refuse to buy high purity drugs anonymously.
The DEA have been trying to infiltrate SR for years with no success.
To be fair, if you want drugs for personal use, the silk road is a horrible place to get them. The prices only become reasonable once you start buying in semi-bulk, and not everyone is looking to buy that much stuff. It's definitely legit though, a friend of mine made a whole lot of money by getting his supply from there. Over two years he only didn't get what he ordered twice and the second time it happened he was able to get his money back.
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out


Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: PsYcHoDoUgHbOy]
#18879968 - 09/23/13 10:23 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
PsYcHoDoUgHbOy said: The "vendors" never ship from a real address, so the DEA buying drugs from the silk road is kind of a joke. Sure, they can get a state/area, but there is no way they are going to find an individual. (unless the seller is dumb as fuck)
Yeah pretty much. SR and related are pretty safe, the only weak link being you have to give your address (or PO box or whatever). And unless you are buying serious bulk, there really isn't a worry of customs coming after you for ordering a gram of MDMA (though that may change in the future, but I don't see them ever having the man-power to do that). Of course ordering domestic mostly mitigates that risk.
-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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Sillyputty67

Registered: 10/06/12
Posts: 2,239
Loc: Netherlands
Last seen: 9 years, 5 months
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs *DELETED* [Re: Cyclohexylamine]
#18879994 - 09/23/13 10:29 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Post deleted by malicomReason for deletion: 1
-------------------- 1) Everything I ever posted or say is a lie.
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out


Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: DEA probes Silk Road, suspected online hub for illegal drugs [Re: Sillyputty67] 1
#18880000 - 09/23/13 10:31 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
malicom said:
Quote:
tymoteusz3 said: Of course ordering domestic mostly mitigates that risk.
This. Not making your package go through customs is key if you want your shit.
If the vendor knows anything about stealth shipping it will pass by customs anyway..
-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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