Blog 13: Operators of online drug ring arrested in global sweep

The ringleader for an online drug selling market was arrested Monday in Lelystad, Netherlands. Seven other men associated with this bust were arrested and indicted for drug trafficking and money laundering along with the ringleader. The online scheme was called the Farmers Market. Men, between the ages of 20 and 51, sold illegal drugs such as LSD, mescaline and ketamine to 3,000 customers. They had buyers from all states in the U.S. as well as 34 other countries outside of the U.S. Their scheme was set up nicely. They used an online store front, order forms, and payment options such as Western Union and PayPal according to the department of Justice. These criminals even screened the drugs for quality and gave customer service. The group of men used a system called TOR which allowed them to go under the radar for being detected. They communicated with each other through internal private messaging. Six of the men busted lived in the United States, The ringleader is Dutch, and another was caught trying to leave Colombia but lives in Argentina. Seven other people associated with this bust have been arrested but not charged as of yet. This investigation has been going on for two years, but law enforcement in Los Angeles, and in other U.S. states as well as in the Netherlands and Colombia cooperated and were able to help with this investigation.

In class we talked about crime and how big the drug world really is. Drug trafficking is an ongoing problem around the world. I do not think it helps that some of the drugs are rather easy to make. Take LSD for example, I recall reading in the textbook that you can make LSD in your kitchen. If all it takes to make some of these drugs is a little time in the kitchen, people are going to try to continue to make the drugs and make money off of it. With the economy and society going in the direction in which it is going, these types of things will keep happening. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I like reading articles like these because I agree that law enforcement should take these crimes seriously and should continue to crack down on drug traffickers. Using the Internet in this manner is not right especially when you get other big companies like Western Union and PayPal involved, it could ruin their reputation. Looking at things from a sociological perspective I think the answer here would be sustainability, in a more positive and legal light.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226260/Operators_of_online_drug_ring_arrested_in_global_sweep?taxonomyId=17