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AlphaBay, one of the largest Tor-hidden drug websites that sprung up in the wake of Silk Road, has been shuttered for good after a series of law enforcement raids and arrests.
The site mysteriously went dark earlier this month. Some users on Reddit suspected an “exit scam,” in which AlphaBay’s founders had shuttered the site and absconded with piles of bitcoins.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which reported the news on Thursday, police in the United States, Canada, and Thailand collaborated to arrest Alexandre Cazes, who allegedly was the head of the online operation. The Canadian citizen was arrested on July 5 in Thailand, the same day that two raids on residences in Quebec, Canada, were executed. On Wednesday, Cazes was found dead, hanged in his Thai jail cell.
The Bangkok Post, citing Thai police sources, reported that Cazes had been living in Thailand for about eight years. Thai authorities also impounded “four Lamborghini cars and three houses worth about 400 million baht ($11.7 million) in total.”
Cazes’ name does not appear in a search of federal court records, but if any charges do exist, they may still be sealed.
Ross Ulbricht, the young Texan who was convicted of creating and operating Silk Road, was given a double life sentence—which was upheld earlier this year on appeal. Ulbricht was also known as “Dread Pirate Roberts.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.
This post originated on Ars Technica
