Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: DealerOfDrugs on July 08, 2013, 02:23 am
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http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130707/PC16/130709585/1177/digital-currency-seized-in-alleged-drug-law-violation-in-charleston
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130707/PC16/130709585/1177/digital-currency-seized-in-alleged-drug-law-violation-in-charleston
In a case believed to be the first of its kind, federal authorities have seized a Charleston man's virtual currency due to an alleged drug law violation with possible links to a shadowy online black market.
What are Bitcoins?
Bitcoins are a digital currency that function like Internet cash. They allow for rapid, anonymous peer-to-peer transactions at low or no cost, without the need for a bank or middleman.
Like cash, Bitcoin transactions are not reversible. They are traded worldwide and can be purchased through online exchanges.
Sources: Bitcoin Foundation, Bitstamp
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently posted a forfeiture notice indicating that agents had seized 11.02 Bitcoins worth $814 from 31-year-old Eric Daniel Hughes for allegedly violating the federal Controlled Substances Act. No other details were provided..........
The seizure appears to mark the first time the federal government has gone after Bitcoins. That's prompted a flurry of speculation that the DEA had infiltrated the infamous Silk Road website, an off-the-grid marketplace where drugs are traded and Bitcoins are the only accepted currency.
“This is the first time something like this has happened with Bitcoin,” Adam B. Levine, editor and chief of the website Let's Talk Bitcoin!, which tracks developments with the currency and first reported on the seizure. “And the interesting subtext is: We don't have any idea just how involved the DEA is with Bitcoins.”
Bitcoins are basically an Internet equivalent of cash, a so-called “crypto-currency” that can be sent directly to other users with no involvement from banks or middle men.
Introduced in 2009, Bitcoins have been a hot investment item of late and are the currency of choice for online drug dealers and other black market traders.
“Bitcoins themselves do not provide anonymity guarantees, but their design makes it possible for transactions to be much harder to trace than traditional payment systems like credit cards or ACH (Automated Clearing House electronic credit) transfers,” Nicolas Christin, associate director of the Information Networking Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, said.
The DEA stated it seized the coins from Hughes, also known as “Casey Jones,” in April, but the agency hasn't charged him with a crime.
Attempts to reach Hughes were unsuccessful last week, and it is unclear if he has an attorney. No one answered the door when a reporter visited his St. Philip Street apartment last week.
DEA officials would not discuss his case except to say it concerns an ongoing investigation being run by the DEA's Los Angeles field office. Two agency spokeswomen said they knew of no other forfeiture cases nationally involving Bitcoins.
Charleston police also moved against Hughes last month, charging him with distributing marijuana and prescription pills after a June 5 raid on his apartment, according to county court records and a police incident report. The charges stem from 10 bags of the narcotic Suboxone found in Hughes' bedroom during the search and two undercover drug buys that occurred in April, according to arrest affidavits. He is accused of selling .77 grams of the muscle relaxant Clozepam and 10.7 grams of marijuana to informants working with police, the affidavits said.
The search of his apartment also uncovered digital scales, a small amount of marijuana, various white powders and pills, computer equipment, a loaded pistol and other items, a police report noted.
Charleston police would not discuss the case, referring all questions to the DEA.
Look how pale and pastry this boy is. He looks like a big soft bowl of jello.
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Look how pale and pastry this boy is.
pastry?
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Look how pale and pastry this boy is.
pastry?
Pasty! god damn auto correct.
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Look how pale and pastry this boy is.
pastry?
i'm delicious like a vatrushka!
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Look how pale and pastry this boy is.
pastry?
i'm delicious like a vatrushka!
do you have frosting? are you deep-fried, or more healthily baked? can you give us any further information regarding your pastry-ness?
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Look how pale and pastry this boy is.
pastry?
i'm delicious like a vatrushka!
do you have frosting? are you deep-fried, or more healthily baked? can you give us any further information regarding your pastry-ness?
you can suck the cream filling right out of me!
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^ Lol, you guys are funny.
So is this, from the article, talking about SR, the shadowy black market *cue ominous music*
“People don't go there to hang out and have a good time,” Levine, of Let's Talk Bitcoin!, said. “They go there because there are specific things you can do there.”
Really? :o I do! I spend hours browsing all the goodies on the market, not the mention all the time I spend hanging out and talking to you guys here on the forums. ;D And I've had a great time! :P
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Is your avatar the cover of a Peter Tosh record? Been wondering for a bit...
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Let's hope his pic is not gonna be the New Pastry Boy of SR. I mean poster boy!
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Is your avatar the cover of a Peter Tosh record? Been wondering for a bit...
You nailed it, Hungry ghost! Its Peter Tosh's "Legalize It". +1 for you ;D
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Wasn't this asshat casey joney a vendor on here? Did anyone ever figure out how the coins were seized?
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Like most every other case of a SR'r getting busted, it was IRL activity that brought the heat.
The whole ฿tc connection is media spin. If they seized his ฿tc, I'd like to know what they're holding them in!~!
Though with the Gov't crackdown on all the exchanges, it does make one a little nervous about it all.
Be safe, be careful, encrypt, tumble, etc.
Peace
jagfug 8)
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Let's hope his pic is not gonna be the New Pastry Boy of SR. I mean poster boy!
This actually got a chuckle out of me. Nice work.
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Attempts to reach Hughes were unsuccessful last week, and it is unclear if he has an attorney. No one answered the door when a reporter visited his St. Philip Street apartment last week.
DEA officials would not discuss his case except to say it concerns an ongoing investigation being run by the DEA's Los Angeles field office. Two agency spokeswomen said they knew of no other forfeiture cases nationally involving Bitcoins.
You understand what this mean, yes?
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We all knew it was casey jones before it was even published, i remember the thread where everyone was trying to work out who the vendor was that got busted, Half the members on here should be PI's.
haha I knew it, What a mugshot as well I always wonder what some of the people im dealing with look like, Its human nature to imagine what someone looks like when talking to them whether its via phone or the deepweb, so i had to laugh like fuck when i saw his mugshot.
Check this out. Quote from the article.
"“People don't go there to hang out and have a good time,” Levine, of Let's Talk Bitcoin!, said. “They go there because there are specific things you can do there.”" Haha bullshit plenty of people chill and hang out in the forums. Too many reporters talk shit.
haha
Hff
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Subbed
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Wasn't this asshat casey joney a vendor on here? Did anyone ever figure out how the coins were seized?
The DEA would only need a wallet, then they could transfer his bitcoins into their wallet. As far as how they got access to his bitcoins: I'd assume he gave the DEA his Silkroad password, or the DEA searched through his things and found the password. If he was keeping them in an online wallet, it's possible the website turned the bitcoins over to the DEA; but I think it's much more likely that this guy was interrogated and told them everything.
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1. If you're going to sell on SR, don't sell IRL.
2. Make sure you constantly look sexy in case you're arrested or the internet will make fun of you.
3. Don't do drugs.
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2. Make sure you constantly look sexy in case you're arrested or the internet will make fun of you.
+1 for making me smile for the first time today!
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Welpppp! What does IRL mean?
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Welpppp! What does IRL mean?
In real life.
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What did Casey used to sell?
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Why would a vendor sell IRL when the prices on SR are easily triple the street prices of most drugs?
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Why would a vendor sell IRL when the prices on SR are easily triple the street prices of most drugs?
Selling on the street is a lot easier. No PGP to learn (sounds like Casey didn't use it), no shit to package, no runs to the mailbox, etc. Just sit & chill at your house, and wait for people to come over.
But in any case, sounds like our friend Casey wasn't very bright
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talk shit about jones will you? youre all a bunch of mugs!
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A little off topic but "Let's Talk Bitcoin!" is a dumb name for a website.
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"trouble ahead, trouble behind casey jones you better watch yo speed!"
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2. Make sure you constantly look sexy in case you're arrested or the internet will make fun of you.
+1, just priceless!
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1. If you're going to sell on SR, don't sell IRL.
2. Make sure you constantly look sexy in case you're arrested or the internet will make fun of you.
3. Don't do drugs.
+1 Bruce!
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"The search of his apartment also uncovered digital scales, a small amount of marijuana, various white powders and pills, computer equipment, a loaded pistol and other items, a police report noted."
Just by reading that I can take a wild guess how they seized his coins. First, damn they nabbed him over some petty shit, the officers there have so much to do... Some hype probably snitched on his ass to get off a petty possession charge. It's such unwanted attention.
But anyway, my guess is that the cops that raided his house went through his computer and found traces of BTC, TOR, etc and from there they probably called the DEA to be involved.. It's the only way I can think of that makes sense to grab his coin collection.
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But anyway, my guess is that the cops that raided his house went through his computer and found traces of BTC, TOR, etc and from there they probably called the DEA to be involved.. It's the only way I can think of that makes sense to grab his coin collection.
When law enforcement can get their hands on money/drugs, they do. Even more so when both are found in the same place, and that includes foreign (and now digital) currencies.
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"... Some hype probably snitched on his ass to get off a petty possession charge. It's such unwanted attention....
article said one sale to an informant and two sales to UC
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LOL at the mugshot. He certainly looks like a shady character.
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"The search of his apartment also uncovered digital scales, a small amount of marijuana, various white powders and pills, computer equipment, a loaded pistol and other items, a police report noted."
Just by reading that I can take a wild guess how they seized his coins. First, damn they nabbed him over some petty shit, the officers there have so much to do... Some hype probably snitched on his ass to get off a petty possession charge. It's such unwanted attention.
But anyway, my guess is that the cops that raided his house went through his computer and found traces of BTC, TOR, etc and from there they probably called the DEA to be involved.. It's the only way I can think of that makes sense to grab his coin collection.
Its a good theory, but the way I understood the facts, the BTC were seized in April, and he wasn't arrested until June. It seems like the BTC seizure set the ball in motion and the raid of his house followed.
This timeline of events more supports the theory that he did something dumb on SR that led to his arrest.
Just my .0002 BTC
;D