Internet Drug Lord Behind Silk Road Arrested in SF

Silk Road, the anonymous online drug market responsible for trafficking $1.2b in narcotics and $80 million in commission since it launched in early 2011, was shut down by the FBI today after it's 29-year-old owner, Ross Ulbricht (aka “Dread Pirate Roberts”), was taken into custody in his 15th Street apartment at the Glen Park Library.

The complaint, uncovered by journalist Brian Krebs, details the sites beginnings in a Hickory Street apartment and nearby Hayes Valley coffee shop, to its inevitable take down yesterday.  Accordingly, the government subpoenaed Google and Comcast to track his IP address, used his Google Plus and LinkedIn accounts to connect him to his pseudonym, and ultimately grabbed him through a forum post on an programming support site.  It even accuses Ulbricht of ordering the killing of users who blackmailed him:

You can read the entire complaint below, with the good stuff beginning on page 24:

[via The Verge]

Comments (20)

from sfgate.com:

Ross Ulbricht, 29, was taken into custody at the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public Library about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. He had a laptop in his possession at the time, said Kelly Langmesser, an FBI spokeswoman in New York.

Yup, read a conflicting report. Updated the post.

Realistically, where else would you expect a guy running the eBay for drugs to live?

Somewhere with broadband and no extradition treaty. Hong Kong. Dubai. Those Snowden-type countries.

Sure as hell wouldn’t have guessed a place within walking distance of a US Federal Building.

Is he at Dave Matthews concert?

Ro[S]s Ul[Br]icht

^^Ha! But for real, is it gonna be harder to get drugs now?

I got it at Ross.

and bitcoin plummets

He may want to check and find out if the anal-ease dispenser in jail accepts bitcoins.

and recovers

i’d like to put a hit out on those sandals.

Ha! Aaaaah. Good one.

This whole ordering-a-hit things smells of BS.

HEY HULKAMANIACS, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND SOME ANABOLIC STEROIDS? IM ASKING FOR A FRIEND.

i’d like to note that he was reportedly caught in the sci fi section of the bayview library.

no, the reports accurately say he was in the glen park library.