In an international bust, U.S. and European law enforcement have arrested 17 individuals for their suspected involvement in illicit underground marketplaces, including the alleged operator of Silk Road 2.0.

On Thursday, the FBI announced that Blake Benthall, a 26-year-old San Francisco resident, had been charged with four counts, which include conspiring to commit computer hacking, narcotics trafficking, trafficking fraudulent identification documents and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Known by the online moniker, “Defcon,” Benthall allegedly became Silk Road 2.0’s admin in December 2013, the FBI said.

Silk Road 2.0 was launched on the Tor network about one month after the FBI took down the original illicit online marketplace and indicted its operator, Ross Ulbricht, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts (DPR). The black market is described by Feds 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.”

Silk Road’s successor, version 2.0, is estimated by the FBI to have generated sales of at least $8 million per month, as of September, when it had around 150,000 active users.

Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was able to infiltrate itself in the illegal operation, in the form on an undercover agent that posed as support staff. The agent was given access to “private, restricted areas of the site reserved for Benthall and his administrative staff,” the FBI revealed.

Read the Full Article: Source – SC Magazine
http://www.scmagazine.com/us-and-european-law-enforcement-crackdown-on-markets-arrest-17/article/382162/

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