Civic News

Fall of online drug market Silk Road has roots in Baltimore-based investigations

From the 21st floor of a downtown Baltimore skyscraper, U.S. federal agents slowly began infiltrating the online international narcotics empire of a man known to buyers as Dread Pirate Roberts.

Screenshot of Ross Ulbricht's LinkedIn profile via Wired.com.

From the 21st floor of a downtown Baltimore skyscraper, U.S. federal agents slowly began infiltrating the online international narcotics empire of a man known to buyers as Dread Pirate Roberts.
That man, Ross William Ulbricht, was arrested in October, and is accused of running the online drug market Silk Road.
But the capture of Ulbricht and the shutdown of Silk Road has its roots in a Baltimore-based office of Homeland Security Investigations, as the Baltimore Sun reported:

The collapse of Silk Road traces back to 2011, when it caught the attention of Homeland Security Investigations. With buyers and sellers around the globe, Silk Road seemed the perfect target for the large but little-known arm of federal law enforcement with an office in Baltimore’s imposing customs house.

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun.

Companies: U.S. Government

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

Our services Preferred partners The journalism fund
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Entrepreneurship is changing, and so is the economic development behind it

What a $10M Department of Energy award means for Baltimore’s hydrogen future

This Week in Jobs: 20 smart picks for your next tech career opportunity

10 tech and startup events to jump start your 2025

Technically Media