[DNM Arrest] Man charged with attempting to buy Ricin on darknet

Didn't see this posted anywhere else here, might be overshadowed by Ulbricht. But:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/20/us-usa-crime-ricin-idUSKBN0KT2G020150120

Could anyone guess the market in question? The vendor? LE couldn't be any more vague.

Full Text:

A Manhattan man tried to buy the biological toxin ricin from an undercover agent posing as a drug vendor on an online black marketplace, U.S. authorities said in criminal charges unsealed on Tuesday.

The man, Cheng Le, has been in federal custody since he was arrested on Dec. 23, and is set to appear in federal court on Friday, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.

His lawyer Patrick Brackley said Le intends to plead not guilty. "It's a complex case and we're working through the facts," he said.

A grand jury indicted Le on one count of attempting to obtain a biological toxin and one count of using a false name in the furtherance of unlawful business, according to the court filings.

The criminal complaint against Le said he used an unidentified black marketplace located within the "dark web," a space on the Internet in which users' true identities remain hidden while they communicate. Le allegedly contacted an agent who had taken over an online identity that had been previously used by a trafficker in illicit materials and asked to buy several lethal doses of ricin, a highly potent toxin derived from castor oil plant seeds.

"Do you have any recommendation for administering the dose?" Le wrote to the agent, according to the complaint. "Injection can be difficult to pull off. Ricin doesn't work immediately. You wouldn't expect the target not to fight back after being jabbed."

The complaint said Le wanted the agent to send the ricin to a shipping store near his apartment where he maintained a postal box. He appeared to have plans to resell the ricin to buyers looking for ways to commit murder without being detected, and later asked the agent to put the ricin into pill form: "If you can make them into simple and easy death pills, they'd become bestsellers," he wrote, according to the complaint.

U.S. authorities have been working to crack down on online marketplaces for drugs and other illegal materials. Over the past two years they have seized and shut down several such sites, including the black market bazaar Silk Road, whose alleged founder Ross Ulbricht is currently on trial in New York for related offenses. Authorities last year shut down a successor site, Silk Road 2.0, but other sites, including one called Evolution Marketplace, are still operation, according to the cyber watchdog group Digital Citizens Alliance.


Comments


[13 Points] IMightBeDEA:

This is ironic. I remember surfing Evolution a few months ago and saw a vendor account with ~20 sales, selling ricin and a few other things that were extremely sketchy.


[8 Points] deepdot:

Criminal complaint and indictment can be found here:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/new-york-man-indicted-attempting-acquire-deadly-toxin-ricin

A postal employee (the Postal Employee) informed the FBI that the Postal Employee had seen Le at the Post Office on multiple prior occasions and that Le has worn blue latex gloves on at least some of those occasions.

Not suspicious at all...


[9 Points] Axcend:

Look out Evo, you were the only active named market.


[4 Points] oblisker:

He got honeydicked.


[2 Points] stupidDNManswer:

Looking forward to see the_armory arrests being filed.ยจ

LE is playing it dirty! No more nice guy, they fucking trick people now.


[2 Points] SecondChanceUsername:

MP's that sell ricin? Is it really worth the heat that you get from LE for a measly commission on a bio weapon? Not IMO.


[2 Points] None:

Why the hell would you take the risk of buying ricin? You can make it fairly easily yourself in your kitchen.


[1 Points] None:

[removed]


[1 Points] None:

All those messeges he sent about how to properly kill someone. He is fucked. I'm assuming whatever scumbag originally selling the recin got busted and LE took over their account? Makes you wonder how many accounts they have.


[1 Points] pinkprincess1:

There is a big difference between a biological weapon that can actually kill a shedload of people and MDMA for the yourself for the weekend.


[1 Points] gwern:

This was the Evolution carder FNU/fnufnu who bought from 'Dark_Mart' (now banned). The complaint quotes the 'fnu' signature and the Evolution forum has identified both of them.

As well, the complaint says that

In or about mid-2014, an FBI online covert employee (the 'OCE') assumed online Dark-Web identity, which had previously been used by a trafficker in illicit materials, including, among other things, biological toxins.

This part doesn't seem to have been noticed on the Evolution forums, but the FBI flipping Dark_Mart is consistent with Dark_Mart's forum posts, he last posts 2014-03-03 normally then posts again on 2014-08-29 that "I just recently logged back into evo and contacted some of you about my status. The bottom line is that one of my suppliers got arrested on gun charges and it brought some heat on our operation. I had to go off the grid for a while but Dark_Mart is back!"

So in other words, at least 2 Evo vendors have been busted as part of this case.


[0 Points] None:

Police shouldn't be able to pose as dealers/vendors and try to get poor saps to buy from them, just to have them arrested. The officer/agent that was posing as the dealer should be arrested as well. They aren't above the law.

I CALL FOR ANARCHY.