Alleged Top Moderators Of Silk Road 2 Forums Arrested In Ireland, U.S. In International Sweep

At least two moderators of the Silk Road 2 user forums have been arrested by authorities in the U.S. and Ireland. A source claiming to have inside knowledge of the arrests said that Libertas, a moderator on the Silk Road 2 forums [TOR link], has been arrested by the Irish Police (Garda Siochana) in Wicklow during a raid carried out on Thursday at about 8PM local time. A source at the Wicklow Police has confirmed the arrest of the yet-unnamed moderator.

The FBI allegedly arrested another moderator, Inigo, in Virginia.

“They caught [Libertas] this evening at his house in Wicklow at around 8pm Irish time, and managed to seize a large number Euro of bitcoins in the raid. The figure is to be confirmed,” the source said. “It looks like the beginnings of the demise of Silk Road 2, not very long after its resurrection.”

A police source independently confirmed the arrest of Libertas, saying that a man was arrested last night in connection with the new Silk Road and charged yesterday (under the Criminal Mutual Assistance Act of 2008.) Police searched his house and took computers. He made bail last night.

Libertas did not respond to online messages.

The source explained that a EU law enforcement infiltrated both the Silk Road and the Silk Road 2 after the arrest of site owner Ross Ulbricht.

“Silk Road were very foolish in their operations,” he said. “A number of EU LE units infiltrated their market admin. Plenty of other information was acquired. We will see that as the Ross Ulbrict case proceeds, EU law enforcement had a large part to play in providing the FBI with the information they needed, partially because most of the operators and the servers were over this side of the Atlantic.”

Authorities have not released the names of the moderators although the Irish police believe that Libertas is “tied in with” the Irish Silk Road drug trade.

In Virginia a Reddit user claiming to be in a relationship with Silk Road 2 moderator Inigo announced that her boyfriend had been arrested.

princess

I’m not sure what his login name was, all i know is that apparently he was an admin and then a mod and that he also ran the book club. He is a wonderful person and has been supporting me (due to my chronic pain), so to say the least my world has been turned inside out and upside down. They told me they were making arrests all around the world at the same time….can anyone give me any info on who he was? i’m hoping he was well liked and respected because even though i didn’t know he was doing this, I can guarantee he was doing it out of his passion for Libertarianism and for the idea of a free marketplace. Just thought i would pass on the message….

Her story – corroborated by arrest warrants and a business card from Christopher Tarbell, a Special Agent for the FBI who took down the first Silk Road earlier this year – is not confirmed at this time.

The case number she provided, 3:13-MS-356, appears in the docket for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and cites Andrew Michael Jones as defendant.

Last night four posts on the Silk Road 2 forums and on Reddit hinted at what are being called “synchronized world arrests.” It appears these are the arrests in question.

UPDATE – The US Manhattan Attorney General has announced the arrests of three members of the Silk Road.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Brian R. Crowell, the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the unsealing of an indictment against ANDREW MICHAEL JONES, a/k/a “Inigo,” GARY DAVIS, a/k/a “Libertas,” and PETER PHILLIP NASH, a/k/a “Samesamebutdifferent,” a/k/a “Batman73,” a/k/a “Symmetry,” a/k/a “Anonymousasshit,” in connection with their alleged roles in operating “Silk Road,” 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. JONES was arrested in Charles City, Virginia, on December 19, 2013, and was presented in Richmond, Virginia in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia today. DAVIS is believed to be in Ireland. NASH was arrested in Australia on December 20, 2013, by the Australian Federal Police in Brisbane, Australia. All three individuals are alleged to have conspired to run the Silk Road website with Ross William Ulbricht, a/k/a “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a/k/a “DPR,” a/k/a “Silk Road,” the alleged owner and operator of Silk Road, who was previously arrested in San Francisco, California, on October 1, 2013, pursuant to a Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

[Thanks to DeepDotWeb and AllThingsVice]