Silk Road 2.0 Closed by FBI

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Ben Woods

Europe Editor

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Silk Road 2.0, a hidden website that allegedly allowed users to buy and sell illegal drugs, has been closed down by authorities and one person has been arrested in connection with the running of the service, according to the FBI.

The closure comes almost exactly one year after the original Silk Road suffered the same fate.

“As alleged, Blake Benthall attempted to resurrect Silk Road, a secret website that law enforcement seized last year, by running Silk Road 2.0, a nearly identical criminal enterprise,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said. “Let’s be clear—this Silk Road, in whatever form, is the road to prison. Those looking to follow in the footsteps of alleged cybercriminals should understand that we will return as many times as necessary to shut down noxious online criminal bazaars.”

According to the statement, Silk Road 2.0 relied on the supposed anonymity of the Tor network to carry out its business and was generating sales of “at least approximately $8 million per month” from a base of roughly 150,000 active users.

➤ Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court [FBI via Reuters]

Image credit: Gil C / Shutterstock.com