The FBI announced today they have shut down Silk Road 2.0, the second version of the Silk Road Marketplace that had previously been shut down when Ross Ulbricht, alleged to be “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was arrested last fall.
A joint press release issued by the DOJ and FBI quotes Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara as saying: “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. 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. We don’t get tired.”
Blake Benthall of San Francisco, California is alleged to be “Defcon,” and was charged with one count of conspiring to commit narcotics trafficking, one count of conspiring to commit computer hacking, one count of conspiring to traffic in fraudulent identification documents, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.”
The full complaint is available here:
