Operation Hyperion fallout: Alleged operator of "NZ Underworld" DNM faces court

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/85969933/vic-underworld-suspect-among-arrests-in-crackdown-on-online-drug-black-markets

Police say they have charged a young man in connection with a "dark net" website alleged to have been set up by Victoria University students to trade drugs, as part of a sting targeting online black markets.

A 22-year-old man will appear in Wellington District Court on Friday, accused of creating the now-defunct site, which was compared at the time with blackmarket site the Silk Road.

The charges come amid a global crackdown on online drugs supermarkets, which police and Customs say netted small amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, alpha PVP - known to users as "bath salts" - LSD or acid, ecstasy, and cannabis seeds in New Zealand.

There have been six arrests so far and 66 formal warnings nationwide as part of the global sting, codenamed Operation Hyperion.

One person faces 13 importing charges relating to ecstasy, LSD and cannabis.

The Vic Underworld site was accessible to drugs traders only through a gateway to the encrypted dark web, known as TOR (The Onion Router).

In July 2015 a figure claiming to have created the site while a student at Victoria spoke anonymously to the Dominion Post and challenged police to catch them.

At that time party drugs, painkillers, and fake doctors' scripts were for sale on the site, which had by then changed its name to "NZ Underworld".

Police and Customs warned on Tuesday there were "more police visits to come".

National high-tech crime group manager Kelly Knight said the 160 people spoken to were among almost 300 people identified as being involved in the illegal trade.

The operation targeted online illegal drugs traders, and from October 22 to 28 agencies had focused on packages arriving via mail centres, and then tracked them back to buyers and sellers.

"The clear message for people who think they can use the internet to buy illegal drugs and get away with it is that they can't," Knight said.

"These sites are not top secret. Police can view them, and together with Customs we can track packages down to addresses and individuals."


Comments


[2 Points] None:

I love when they say cops can access these sites well no shit anyone can. Anyone with half a brain and good OPSEC(tails on USB,encrypted addresses,reliable vendor etc) can get away with using DNM's most of the busts we hear about are huge vendors and low hanging fruit