Dark Net Weapons Bust Leads To 17 Arrests and a $80,000 Bitcoin Seizure

[celestio]

A recent series of busts has shaken the world of dark net weapons commerce. A six-month joint investigation between law enforcement in Australia and the United States, which involved law enforcement going undercover as weapons dealers,  has resulted in 17 arrests internationally.

In September 2014, the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) identified a 33-year-old US-based dark net seller of weapons to a “worldwide client base,” according to a press release from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

....

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/dark-net-weapons-bust-leads-17-arrests-80000-bitcoin-seizure/


These things will not help bitcoin to go mainstream, I also know you can (maybe) do these things also with all the FIAT currencies... but people like to use bitcoin....

Why aren't those guys using Monero? they would be more anonymous for their criminal shit and would leave us non-criminals that just want to enjoy the benefits of Bitcoin or the fiat scam free of negative press. How many more arrests until they learn?

Brash generalization, Monero being private/anonymous doesn't mean it's for illegal use only(You can also be transparent).

[goosoodude]

While on it's face this kind of headline does make bitcoin look bad (it makes it look like it is only used for trading in illegal things), I think if you read between the lines that you will see that this demonstrates that commerce can be transacted without any kind of geographical limit, and that without putting in a lot of effort, it is difficult to determine the identity of someone using bitcoin by just looking at the blockchain

[TheButterZone]

Bitcoin helped some Australians be able to exercise their infringed human right to self-defense? WAH! Imprison them all!

[MicroGuy]

I think bitcoin is finding its niche (and gaining a reputation) as the "go-to currency" when people need to circumvent the law.

The reason for this is simple: Consumers have no inclination to add additional steps into their purchase payment flow. "Hey, have you heard about bitcoin? Let me tell you about this cool extra step you can take to buy things."

However, when it comes to drugs, paying hitmen, cyber crime, hacking ransoms, and gun smuggling it has genuine utility. It's actually useful.

[celestio]

Tell that to the FBI agent that got caught laundering DPR's stolen Bitcoins from blockchain analysis/blockchain tracking.

[tss]

Only $80,000? Either these guys were small time or the feds didn't get the entire stash. I'm thinking the latter.
Makes me think, when they bust criminals and get fiat, they don't post the bills up for auction... I'm wondering how long until they decide to stop auctioning off seized bitcoins.

i agree.  i can't remember the last time i saw an auction for u.s. currency. 
so far the us gov has made the best move by selling at auction. 
they may keep any coins they seize at this price though :-) 
who knows.

[Yeah?]

I don't understand how these people are getting their coins seized. They can't have had the properly/safely stored or backed up. Pretty stupid keeping them where you live or conduct your business from if you're doing something dodgy.

 

These things will not help bitcoin to go mainstream, I also know you can (maybe) do these things also with all the FIAT currencies... but people like to use bitcoin....

Don't talk stupid. Maybe? Of course you can buy guns with cash both online, on the street or at gun shops.

[shulio]

While on it's face this kind of headline does make bitcoin look bad (it makes it look like it is only used for trading in illegal things), I think if you read between the lines that you will see that this demonstrates that commerce can be transacted without any kind of geographical limit, and that without putting in a lot of effort, it is difficult to determine the identity of someone using bitcoin by just looking at the blockchain

Some people will not take extra work to read the meaning of this articles because people like to base things just on the headlines. Thats what make news especially about celebrity are the most popular news. If some people see the headlines they will thing that bitcoin is a tool to help criminals

[Soros Shorts]

$2,500 for a Walther PPK/S .380 calibre pistol and a silencer! The guy didn't know how to shop, you can get a decent gun for way less.

The sale was made in Australia which virtually has a complete gun ban. It takes 6 months of a sport shooting club membership to be eligible to purchase a handgun that will be strictly used for sport shooting.

When I was in school, I met an Australian student at a US gun range who told me that he unintentionally smuggled about 20 rounds of loose .22 LR ammunition in his carry on bag on one of his trips back to Australia. Somehow it wasn't detected by Airport security. His carry on backpack was also his gun range bag, and this was a long time ago before 9/11 so I believed him then.

Anyway he claims to have sold the 20 rounds of .22 LR (with a cost of 40 cents based on Walmart prices back then) for 200 AUD in Australia to some shady character.

Is .22 rimfire really Unobtaniuim in Australia?

[QuestionAuthority]

$2,500 for a Walther PPK/S .380 calibre pistol and a silencer! The guy didn't know how to shop, you can get a decent gun for way less.

The sale was made in Australia which virtually has a complete gun ban. It takes 6 months of a sport shooting club membership to be eligible to purchase a handgun that will be strictly used for sport shooting.

When I was in school, I met an Australian student at a US gun range who told me that he unintentionally smuggled about 20 rounds of loose .22 LR ammunition in his carry on bag on one of his trips back to Australia. Somehow it wasn't detected by Airport security. His carry on backpack was also his gun range bag, and this was a long time ago before 9/11 so I believed him then.

Anyway he claims to have sold the 20 rounds of .22 LR (with a cost of 40 cents based on Walmart prices back then) for 200 AUD in Australia to some shady character.

Is .22 rimfire really Unobtaniuim in Australia?

It's not just .22 - it's everything. I've visited friends in Queensland several times in the last few years and yeah it ain't easy to own guns or buy ammo there. They have some pretty fucked up laws about gun ownership where you have to prove a genuine need and a genuine reason to own a gun. You don't just walk into your local Walmart and buy a few boxes of ammo either. They came to visit us in the U.S. one summer and we took them shooting. They were amazed at how many guns we are allowed to own and how much .223 remington we were able to shoot through in one weekend. I remember Curt saying we could take over the entire country of Australia with just the two ammo cans we brought camping with us. lol

[bryant.coleman]

Prohibition leads to black market and the growth of criminal gangs. If the Australian idiots think that they have dismantled the entire weapons black market by arresting a few small-timers, then they are wrong. The big players will never get caught. In this particular case, the vendor was caught just because of his US connections.

[var53]

Prohibition leads to black market and the growth of criminal gangs. If the Australian idiots think that they have dismantled the entire weapons black market by arresting a few small-timers, then they are wrong. The big players will never get caught. In this particular case, the vendor was caught just because of his US connections.

Although there will probably always be illegal guns in Australia the strict anti-gun laws and busts by the authorities will keep the number of illegal guns in circulation to a very small number. It's very rare that I hear of gun crime being a major problem there. If the big players somehow start buying and using guns too often they will draw attention to themselves because guns are so rarely used there. They will eventually get caught because there are so few gun crimes to investigate that the authorities can throw huge amounts of resources against them.

[bryant.coleman]

It's very rare that I hear of gun crime being a major problem there.

That is just because, as of now a vast majority of the Australians originate from nations with very low crime rate (such as the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Ireland, Greece.etc). Just wait until the third world population climbs to over 10% (quite possible, as Australia receives tens of thousands of "refugees" every year from countries such as Somalia and Afghanistan).

[Herbert2020]

IMO this kind of publicity does more harm than anything else. people who hear about bitcoin for the first time this way or maybe someone who have heard of bitcoin but doesn't really know what it is, is going to know bitcoin as a means for illegal activities.

[celestio]

Prohibition leads to black market and the growth of criminal gangs. If the Australian idiots think that they have dismantled the entire weapons black market by arresting a few small-timers, then they are wrong. The big players will never get caught. In this particular case, the vendor was caught just because of his US connections.

Precisely this reminds me of the past prohibition of alcohol in usa, and we know what happened there. Though I also suppose guns and alcohol are two very different things(Alcohol is restricted to the person, guns are not i.e guns can cause harm to others, while alcohol usually just causes harm to oneself)

[TheButterZone]

Alcohol can influence oneself to harm others.
Guns cannot.

[celestio]

Some police officers are a perfect example that guns can influence oneself to harm others, so imagine what a crook would do(Don't even need to imagine, just read the news). It makes you feel "invincible" and above the average pop.

[TheButterZone]

Nope, qualified immunity (effectively indistinguishable from "absolute power" which corrupts absolutely) influences them to harm others. Crooks, on the other hand, feel invincible when the government disarms all their mentally-sound, sober, law-abiding victims for them.

[RitzBitzz]

A recent series of busts has shaken the world of dark net weapons commerce. A six-month joint investigation between law enforcement in Australia and the United States, which involved law enforcement going undercover as weapons dealers,  has resulted in 17 arrests internationally.

In September 2014, the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) identified a 33-year-old US-based dark net seller of weapons to a “worldwide client base,” according to a press release from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

....

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/dark-net-weapons-bust-leads-17-arrests-80000-bitcoin-seizure/


These things will not help bitcoin to go mainstream, I also know you can (maybe) do these things also with all the FIAT currencies... but people like to use bitcoin....

Fiat is not as digitally assessable as bitcoin and lots of these deals happen digitally so they have to use bitcoin.

[btcsnatcher]

A recent series of busts has shaken the world of dark net weapons commerce. A six-month joint investigation between law enforcement in Australia and the United States, which involved law enforcement going undercover as weapons dealers,  has resulted in 17 arrests internationally.

In September 2014, the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) identified a 33-year-old US-based dark net seller of weapons to a “worldwide client base,” according to a press release from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

....

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/dark-net-weapons-bust-leads-17-arrests-80000-bitcoin-seizure/


These things will not help bitcoin to go mainstream, I also know you can (maybe) do these things also with all the FIAT currencies... but people like to use bitcoin....

Fiat is not as digitally assessable as bitcoin and lots of these deals happen digitally so they have to use bitcoin.

It's no as if they have to use bitcoin since majority of these deals happen digitally; they do so because unlike bank transfers, cash payments; using bitcoins as a method of transaction is way more secure and preferable as it only gives transaction ids, or at the most wallet addresses to third party observers which makes them if not impossible then really difficult to trace back to the owners...
No wonder people try to launder their money through cryptocurrencies.
These kind of acts doesn't strengthen the bitcoin community but become a threat as to whether bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies would be allowed to survive...