- 6 months ago
Documentary, Silk Road Drugs Death and the Dark Web 2017
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00:00:00My name is Jared Erjagin. I'm a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations Division.
00:00:22I'm assigned to Chicago O'Hara International Airport.
00:00:30We have canines that run past the mail and smell for drugs.
00:00:37The officers noticed an unusual amount of drugs coming in in letter class mail.
00:00:44It was ecstasy pills, MDMA in powder form, cocaine, LSD, heroin.
00:00:55A few seizures became 50 seizures per month, and then became 100 seizures per month, and then a few hundred seizures per month.
00:01:02I conducted my first interview of a recipient, and he told me immediately that it was from a website called Silk Road.
00:01:17It has been 40 years since President Nixon declared a war on drugs. Now a high-profile panel says that war is unwinnable.
00:01:39Silk Road was a new kind of black market that the internet had never seen before.
00:01:44Opiates up 34 and a half percent. Cocaine use up 27 percent. And marijuana use up 8 and a half percent. That's according to UN data.
00:01:54Silk Road was the first big view to the war on drugs.
00:01:58Silk Road had 20,000 new users every single month.
00:02:17Silk Road had 90 percent.
00:02:18Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram, Twitter & Instagram, Instagram by LinkedIn.
00:02:19Silk Road would be a complete Sri Increase of Twitter.
00:02:20Silk Road was a roast
00:02:25hid a madcapot에요 on Toutspans, Facebook, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter 7 and Twitter & Instagram
00:02:27pora 3, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Instagram by Instagram, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
00:02:32Chicago, Instagram to Twitter.
00:02:41вони 여기에 neighboranaxquarters , Twitter 3, Twitter , Twitter and Instagram, Twitter and Instagram, Twitter & Instagram
00:02:46He was more than a drug dealer, he was a genius in my opinion
00:02:52The alleged mastermind goes by the nickname, Red Pirate Robbers
00:02:57Red Pirate Robbers, Red Pirate Robbers
00:02:59Every transaction was meant to be a blow against the whole idea of government
00:03:04He made Silk Road
00:03:10From that day you have a target on your back
00:03:13I am the head of an organization of distributors that
00:03:42Manufactured drugs and ran on Silk Road
00:03:45The first time I had ever heard about Silk Road when my friends came up to me
00:03:52And he was essentially like, hey man, there's this website where you can buy drugs on
00:03:55And you can sell drugs on it
00:03:56And I was like, what?
00:04:02There was the menu on the left
00:04:04Which shows all the drugs that you could purchase by category
00:04:07Whether it be a dissociative, an upper, a downer, it was all there
00:04:11And it was like going on Amazon or on eBay and seeing your top recently looked at items
00:04:18Except for this was cocaine and DMT and all the other elusive drugs that you could never have before in your life
00:04:24Just right in front of you, all you had to do was click twice and it would show up at your doorstep a couple days later
00:04:29It's like
00:04:33Perfect
00:04:34To become a vendor was very simple
00:04:38All you have to do is click on become a vendor in the bottom right hand corner
00:04:41And it would easily make you a vendor
00:04:43Marketing and customer service were number one
00:04:46Everything was shot in the studio with professional lighting
00:04:52And you got a product that matched that
00:04:54We would get a product such as Dove Chocolates
00:05:01Open it up, put it into the Dove Chocolate packaging
00:05:04Close it up, and then we had shrink wrap sealers
00:05:06So the product looks like it's been factory closed and never opened
00:05:09I just don't know what ended up in law enforcement's hands
00:05:17How much of it, when
00:05:18You can't worry about things like that
00:05:23Whole business is built on who's got the balls to disregard that information and make the money
00:05:28I remember the day I got the call
00:05:41In late February 2013
00:05:44My boss told me that Silk Road was a website that operated on this dark net
00:05:49That made it hard to locate where the site was or track any of the customers
00:05:54That it was the Amazon of drugs, that you could buy any drug you wanted
00:06:02And the scale was worldwide
00:06:04In cases like this IRS criminal investigation are a lot of times brought in because we're financial experts at tracking money
00:06:23And most crimes are about the money
00:06:26I had studied accounting when I was in college
00:06:30I worked as an auditor and then I became a special agent
00:06:34I hadn't up until this point done any kind of work in the drug trafficking field
00:06:40My first day on the investigation
00:06:51The first thing was introducing myself to say, hey, I'm the new agent
00:06:56And what do you know about this Silk Road?
00:07:02For the most part, to a man, they hated the case
00:07:05I get the undercover laptop
00:07:10We power up the site
00:07:12And I am dumbfounded
00:07:14I had heard about it
00:07:17People had told me about it
00:07:18But until you actually got to the site
00:07:20And just saw how professional it was done
00:07:24And how easy it was to get to the site
00:07:26It really was amazing
00:07:27For a normal person to purchase on Silk Road
00:07:35They were first required to download a special browser
00:07:38Which would allow them access onto the dark web
00:07:41The Silk Road really offered two distinct protections to users
00:07:45One was Tor
00:07:46And that's a tool that anyone can download
00:07:49It triple encrypts your traffic as you're browsing the web
00:07:58And then bounces it through three different servers all around the globe
00:08:02So you couldn't locate the people using it or administering the site
00:08:10But that does no good if you have to buy the drugs with a credit card
00:08:15Because it wouldn't be too hard for an investigator like myself to track down who made this purchase
00:08:21So the site specifically only authorized Bitcoin transactions
00:08:26The second protection was Bitcoin of course
00:08:28Bitcoin is a digital currency
00:08:31It's independent of any bank or government
00:08:34Unlike any currency that otherwise exists in the physical world
00:08:39It works like cash on the internet
00:08:42You can move it
00:08:43But it doesn't have to be associated with any name
00:08:45So it was used to make sure that people couldn't trace the money
00:08:49What made the Silk Road unique was that it had combined Tor with Bitcoin
00:08:54I think that that's often how real innovation works
00:08:58That combination I think was really the spark that changed the whole game
00:09:19Even though there were numerous vendors
00:09:27There was an overriding force that controlled the site
00:09:32That's the person that we want to target
00:09:36He would call himself the captain of the ship
00:09:44He originally would just call Silk Road or Silk Road Admin
00:09:47But after a time he took on a new alias or a new name
00:09:52And it was Dread Pirate Roberts
00:09:54I know who you are
00:10:04Your cruelty reveals everything
00:10:05You're the Dread Pirate Roberts
00:10:07Admit it
00:10:08That name has significance because it comes from this film and a novel called The Princess Bride
00:10:14And the Dread Pirate Roberts is a title that's passed down from one kind of noble criminal to the next
00:10:20You seem a decent fellow
00:10:21I hate to kill you
00:10:23You seem a decent fellow
00:10:24I hate to die
00:10:25Thank you
00:10:28You may be shocked to find listings here
00:10:56That are outlawed in your jurisdiction
00:10:59That doesn't mean Silk Road is lawless
00:11:04Our basic rules are to treat others as you would wish to be treated
00:11:11Mind your own business
00:11:14And don't do anything to hurt or scam anyone else
00:11:19There are some things you will never find here
00:11:24They include child pornography
00:11:27Stolen goods and assassinations
00:11:31As a community
00:11:40If we are going to survive
00:11:45We need to adopt
00:11:47A long-term vision
00:11:48It is my sincere hope
00:11:52That by making drugs available
00:11:54In a secure
00:11:55And predictable way
00:11:57We will eliminate
00:12:00The violence
00:12:01Of obtaining drugs
00:12:02Through traditional methods
00:12:04Silk Road users just loved it
00:12:11They call DPR a Che Guevara figure
00:12:14Changing the liberties of man
00:12:17DPR really believed
00:12:34And I think his users did too
00:12:35That they were ushering in this new era of human freedom
00:12:38We are like a little seed
00:12:42In a big jungle
00:12:44That has just broken the surface of the forest floor
00:12:48It's a big, scary jungle
00:12:52With lots of dangerous creatures
00:12:54Each owned by evolution
00:12:57To survive in the hostile environment
00:13:00Known as human society
00:13:02There's two ways to see the Silk Road
00:13:23You can see it as just a vast criminal conspiracy
00:13:25As it's described by the FBI
00:13:27Or you can see it as a grand experiment
00:13:31In granting people
00:13:33An almost dangerous level of freedom
00:13:35A kind of new anarchy on the internet
00:13:39Where people can act with impunity from laws
00:13:43The first thing you want to know in an investigation
00:13:50Is not what you do know
00:13:51You want to know what you don't know
00:13:53And I know I didn't know a lot
00:13:55So I had to go all the way back to the beginning
00:13:57It was only after a few months of Silk Road getting started
00:14:09That it became into the public consciousness
00:14:11And what happened was
00:14:19There was an article written
00:14:20By Gawker about
00:14:22I believe it was
00:14:23You can buy any drug imaginable
00:14:25Within days of that press article
00:14:31Senator Schumer from New York
00:14:33Called a press conference
00:14:34Calling for the site to be shut down
00:14:36It's a certifiable one-stop shop for illegal drugs
00:14:43That represents the most brazen attempt
00:14:45To peddle drugs online that we have ever seen
00:14:48It's more brazen than anything else by light years
00:14:51Traffic to the site went through the roof
00:14:55Authorities say they are absolutely shocked
00:14:59By a popular new website brazenly selling illegal drugs
00:15:02To anyone with a computer
00:15:04A lot more eyeballs and traffic went to the site
00:15:11And it became much more profitable
00:15:13Drugs were being shipped all around the US
00:15:16Drugs were being shipped outside of the US
00:15:18Drugs were coming in from outside
00:15:20It was going all over the place
00:15:22LSD, cocaine and ecstasy
00:15:24Are now just a click of a mouse away
00:15:26The case was pretty high profile
00:15:31And people wanted results
00:15:32The site Silk Road was created in 2011
00:15:35The clients used the Bitcoins
00:15:37With the name of this virtual money
00:15:38But they didn't know how to bring it down
00:15:42We even found a local customer
00:15:44Who says there's not a lot
00:15:45Police can do to stop it
00:15:47Hey, I'm calling on the DEA
00:15:48And the Department of Justice
00:15:49To immediately shut this site down
00:15:52Before more damage is done
00:15:53Whoever this person running the site
00:15:55You would think at this point
00:15:56They was like, oh, I should get out of this game
00:15:58But surprisingly
00:16:01The person's reaction who run the site was
00:16:03Holy
00:16:04This is epic
00:16:07The gauntlet has been thrown down
00:16:09Bring it on
00:16:11Prior to Silk Road
00:16:14All the customers I had
00:16:15Were almost all face to face
00:16:17When the Silk Road came along
00:16:26It virtually expanded my network
00:16:28To every single customer in the world
00:16:30The Newark cyber branch of the FBI
00:16:49Was the lead technical investigative agency
00:16:52For this investigation
00:16:54There were millions of dollars
00:17:02Being transferred back and forth
00:17:04And it was large-scale purchases
00:17:07From casual drug users
00:17:10To hardcore, dangerous drugs
00:17:12DPR was taking money from every transaction
00:17:15He was getting a fee
00:17:17For every time a good was sold on the site
00:17:21Six months into the investigation
00:17:25We had limited success
00:17:27Clearly we hadn't identified the hidden service yet
00:17:32We hadn't been able to defeat Tor
00:17:34And we hadn't identified the Dread Pirate Roberts
00:17:37We didn't know where he was
00:17:41Who he was
00:17:42How old he was
00:17:43Whether he was a male or female
00:17:45That creates a huge challenge
00:17:49To a very aggressive investigative team
00:17:53I've gone through the mental exercise
00:18:01Of spending a lifetime in prison
00:18:04And of dying for this
00:18:06I have let fear pass through me
00:18:12And commit myself fully
00:18:14To the mission
00:18:15Outlined in the charter
00:18:17What we are doing
00:18:25Is more important
00:18:27Than my insignificant life
00:18:29What we are doing
00:18:35Will have rippling effects
00:18:36For generations to come
00:18:38And could be part
00:18:41Of a monumental shift
00:18:43In how
00:18:44Human beings organize
00:18:45And relate to one another
00:18:47Silk Road
00:18:54Is going to become a phenomenon
00:18:56At least one person
00:18:59Will tell me about it
00:19:01Unknowing
00:19:02That I am
00:19:03Its creator
00:19:04DPR
00:19:11DPR
00:19:11Played
00:19:12The vendors very well
00:19:14And kept them close to him
00:19:15We took care of him
00:19:16He took care of us
00:19:16The site
00:19:18Had a commission
00:19:20Somewhere around 3%
00:19:21They later increased
00:19:23Their percentage
00:19:24Somewhere around 12%
00:19:25This further
00:19:27Brings my reasoning
00:19:28To DPR
00:19:29Only wanting money
00:19:30Anybody who says
00:19:31That they're doing this
00:19:32For other than money
00:19:33Is a liar
00:19:33To those of you
00:19:39Shocking my actions
00:19:41Up to pure greed
00:19:42I say
00:19:44Shame
00:19:45On you
00:19:46When have I lied
00:19:49When have I cheated
00:19:51Or stolen
00:19:52From anyone here
00:19:53Do you think
00:19:57It runs itself
00:19:58Do you have any clue
00:20:01What goes on
00:20:02Behind the scenes
00:20:03To keep this going
00:20:05Whether you like it
00:20:08Or not
00:20:09I am the captain
00:20:10Of this ship
00:20:11And if you don't like
00:20:13The rules
00:20:14Of the game
00:20:14You can get off
00:20:17The boat
00:20:18Dread Pyre Roberts
00:20:27Could have been anybody
00:20:28There was a lot
00:20:30Of theories
00:20:30Of course I wondered
00:20:32But I know how to mind
00:20:34My manners
00:20:34And not ask that
00:20:35Type of question
00:20:36They were different
00:20:37Nationalities
00:20:38Different age groups
00:20:39The writing of the silk road
00:20:46Made us believe
00:20:47That it was someone
00:20:47From Australia
00:20:48Other English speaking countries
00:20:49I imagine some
00:20:51Kind of pop-bellied guy
00:20:52In his basement
00:20:54In Silicon Valley
00:20:55There were theories
00:20:59That the person
00:20:59Had connections to Russia
00:21:01My guess was
00:21:03That he was from the UK
00:21:04I thought he was
00:21:06Relatively young
00:21:06Because he would use
00:21:07This term epic
00:21:08Because that's a term
00:21:09The younger generation
00:21:10Would say
00:21:10We really didn't know
00:21:12Where the person
00:21:13Was located
00:21:13That could have been
00:21:14Located in any country
00:21:15In the world
00:21:15He was a ghost
00:21:19I remember it was
00:21:30A Friday night
00:21:31I was frustrated
00:21:32With the case
00:21:33I wasn't getting
00:21:34The results
00:21:35That I thought
00:21:36I should be getting
00:21:36So what I decided
00:21:38Is I'm going to go over
00:21:39Everything I did
00:21:40I was going to
00:21:40Reddo everything
00:21:41My dad was a math teacher
00:21:43And I think I kind of
00:21:45Got that from him
00:21:45And the way he approached
00:21:46Things very methodically
00:21:48Two plus two is four
00:21:49And he always
00:21:51Raised me to believe
00:21:53I can overcome anything
00:21:55So I was going to
00:21:57Go over every last
00:21:58Bit of evidence
00:21:59Because I figured
00:22:00I had missed something
00:22:01I was in bed
00:22:16I was having a hard time
00:22:18Sleeping
00:22:18Because I just cannot sleep
00:22:21With something
00:22:23That I should be doing
00:22:24My fiance
00:22:27She would be upset
00:22:28At me sometimes
00:22:29Why are you up late at night
00:22:30Why don't you go to sleep
00:22:31So I go to
00:22:33Where my couch is
00:22:34And that's where I do
00:22:35Most of my work
00:22:36And I just start
00:22:36Plugging away
00:22:37The Silk Road site
00:22:41The Silk Road site was hosted
00:22:42On this tour
00:22:43Hidden service
00:22:44But that is no good
00:22:46If someone's just on
00:22:47The regular internet
00:22:47So I figured
00:22:49Whoever was running the site
00:22:50Had to first advertise it
00:22:52I started putting search terms in
00:22:55Like Silk Road
00:22:56But unfortunately
00:22:57A lot of stuff came back
00:22:58So I started putting in
00:22:59Limiting searches
00:23:00Silk Road started in
00:23:02Early 2011
00:23:03So I limited it to before
00:23:06Let's say February 2011
00:23:08To see if there was any mentions
00:23:10Of a Silk Road site
00:23:11Before then
00:23:12And I would start there
00:23:13And by doing that search
00:23:15I came across a posting
00:23:16On the Bitcoin forum
00:23:18From an avatar named Altoid
00:23:21I click on it
00:23:24And it brings me
00:23:25To this discussion thread
00:23:26About how someone
00:23:29Could have a drug
00:23:31Enterprise online
00:23:32And how would they do it
00:23:33And he's advertising
00:23:35For a Silk Road site
00:23:36So it predates
00:23:38All other mentions
00:23:39So it was kind of eye opening
00:23:42How did this person
00:23:43Altoid
00:23:44Know about this site
00:23:45Before the site was launched
00:23:47On his final posting
00:23:50In October of 2011
00:23:52Altoid says
00:23:54He's going to start
00:23:55A Bitcoin company
00:23:56And he's looking
00:23:57For programming help
00:23:58And he asks
00:23:59For people to reach out to him
00:24:01And in the posting
00:24:03He lists his Gmail account
00:24:05For them to contact him
00:24:06And the Gmail account
00:24:16That he lists
00:24:17Is rossolbrecht
00:24:18At gmail.com
00:24:20And I was like
00:24:23Wow
00:24:24Yeah I have to look
00:24:26Into who this
00:24:26Ross Olbrecht is
00:24:27I actually didn't really
00:24:44Talk to him
00:24:44The first time I met him
00:24:45And then after that
00:24:49We were inseparable
00:24:50I honestly don't think
00:24:54There's anything
00:24:54We didn't do together
00:24:55From going to parks
00:24:58And going on hikes
00:24:59To going to art museums
00:25:01He was really into yoga
00:25:04And exercise
00:25:06He was also into qigong
00:25:10And breathing
00:25:11There was a period of time
00:25:15When he was
00:25:16Always in his room
00:25:17Was always working on stuff
00:25:19You know he really
00:25:20Always had his computer
00:25:21In tow
00:25:22And was very kind of
00:25:23Secretive about it
00:25:24Before you're in
00:25:25Ask me a question
00:25:27Um
00:25:30What are you most excited
00:25:33About for the 2011 year
00:25:35I'm just very excited
00:25:37To see how things play out
00:25:39I think it's going to be
00:25:39A big year of change
00:25:40Um
00:25:41Um
00:25:42Well on broad scale
00:25:44You know
00:25:44Um
00:25:45Like how
00:25:46Uh
00:25:48Yeah it's exciting
00:25:51He was known on campus
00:25:57As being just you know
00:25:58A really cool awesome dude
00:26:00People would just get
00:26:02Drawn to him
00:26:02He would always try
00:26:03And make sure everybody
00:26:04Was having a good time
00:26:05You know that nobody
00:26:06Was off in their own
00:26:07Little corner
00:26:08Doing their own thing
00:26:09It was definitely
00:26:12My first love
00:26:14You know
00:26:17Grab some great sex
00:26:18Hang out
00:26:19You know
00:26:19Going to parties
00:26:20Going out to eat
00:26:21And cuddling
00:26:22In the freezing cold
00:26:23You know
00:26:23Just perfect
00:26:24He kind of made me think
00:26:29About a lot of things
00:26:30And a lot of different
00:26:31Perspectives on life
00:26:33That I had never
00:26:34Even considered before
00:26:35What are you most looking forward to
00:26:38Um
00:26:39I guess I'm looking forward to
00:26:42The possibility of turning my
00:26:45Passion into a viable business
00:26:49Awesome
00:26:52Well wish you the best of luck
00:26:53I mean he was a genius
00:26:56I mean he was a genius
00:26:56In my opinion
00:26:57It was all about entrepreneurship
00:27:00And his parents were entrepreneurs
00:27:02They had owned condos in Costa Rica
00:27:04And rented them out
00:27:05He genuinely loved his family
00:27:08And Ross genuinely looked up to his dad
00:27:11And he loved his mother
00:27:12So I think
00:27:13Yeah I definitely think
00:27:14They had an influence on him
00:27:15Ross would dress in as little as possible
00:27:24Um
00:27:25I knew him
00:27:26For a big chunk of freshman year
00:27:28Before I ever knew his name
00:27:29He was no shirt guy
00:27:30And he was no shirt guy
00:27:32To literally
00:27:34Hundreds of other people
00:27:35Um
00:27:36Who I'm sure never even bothered
00:27:37To learn his name
00:27:37I remember one time
00:27:40We were going camping
00:27:41And
00:27:42To Ross
00:27:44Since he was no shirt guy
00:27:45You know
00:27:47Wearing a bunch of clothes
00:27:48Was you know
00:27:49Something that you had to do
00:27:50Because other people
00:27:50Made you do it
00:27:51And once we got
00:27:53To our campsite
00:27:54Right by this lake
00:27:55It was like
00:27:56Okay
00:27:56Clothes come off
00:27:57I'm going to spend
00:27:58As much time as I can
00:27:59Out in nature
00:28:00You know
00:28:01Just completely
00:28:01Butt ass naked
00:28:02Doing my own thing
00:28:03I didn't really have
00:28:07A lot of friends
00:28:08At that point
00:28:08So
00:28:09I just hung out
00:28:10With Ross
00:28:10When I was working
00:28:13I don't know
00:28:14What he was doing
00:28:14To be honest
00:28:15So on Monday morning
00:28:32I want to tell
00:28:33The other guys
00:28:33And girls in the group
00:28:35About what I found
00:28:36I have a very expressive face
00:28:40So when I get in
00:28:41I'm pretty excited
00:28:42And I was like
00:28:43Hey
00:28:43We got something new
00:28:44We got something
00:28:45That we can really
00:28:46Sink our teeth into
00:28:47And look into
00:28:48This person
00:28:49Ross Ulbricht
00:28:49The case
00:28:50The case had been going on
00:28:51For about two years
00:28:52And they say
00:28:53Well how'd you find it
00:28:53And I tell them
00:28:54Google
00:28:55They're like
00:28:56Really?
00:28:57That's what you did?
00:28:58And I'm like
00:28:58Yes
00:28:59I mean
00:29:00You come into
00:29:00This big case
00:29:01And tell people
00:29:02You've cracked it
00:29:03Over a weekend
00:29:03Doing Google searches
00:29:04You should expect
00:29:06Some quizzical looks
00:29:07I was just
00:29:10This whole outsider
00:29:11You know
00:29:12People dismissed it
00:29:14So I was working
00:29:36At Forbes magazine
00:29:37When I saw
00:29:38The first press
00:29:39Come out about
00:29:40The Silk Road
00:29:41I was pretty much
00:29:43Obsessed with
00:29:43The Silk Road
00:29:44As this new
00:29:45Phenomenon
00:29:46On the internet
00:29:47Especially with
00:29:48The Dread Pirate Roberts
00:29:48This mysterious figure
00:29:50Behind it all
00:29:51Of course
00:29:54I wanted to figure out
00:29:54Who he was
00:29:55That would be
00:29:57The ultimate scoop
00:29:58On the forums
00:30:05You can private message
00:30:05Anyone
00:30:06And as anonymous
00:30:07As he was
00:30:07He was still available
00:30:09For anybody
00:30:09To reach out to
00:30:10And I was shocked
00:30:18To see that he actually
00:30:19Was super responsive
00:30:20He wrote back
00:30:21To me immediately
00:30:22Which was not
00:30:23What you would expect
00:30:24From the kingpin
00:30:26Of a massive drug operation
00:30:27He said that he wanted to share
00:30:32This vision he had
00:30:33With the world
00:30:34But that he was waiting
00:30:36For what he considered
00:30:36To be the right moment
00:30:37That he wanted to wait
00:30:39For some new phase
00:30:40Of Silk Road
00:30:41That he alluded to
00:30:42But never fully explained
00:30:44Very polite and professional
00:30:48Espoused these political ideals
00:30:50That seemed very noble
00:30:51He was funny at times
00:30:54I proceeded to pester him
00:30:57To give me a full interview
00:30:59I at one point
00:31:00Just launched into
00:31:01A series of questions
00:31:02About who he was
00:31:03How old he was
00:31:04If he was male or female even
00:31:05And he was so freaked out
00:31:07That he cut off all contact
00:31:08Ross and I would talk
00:31:18About politics
00:31:18For hours and hours
00:31:20He thought that people
00:31:22Were their own best judges
00:31:23Of what was right for them
00:31:24And that it was a bad idea
00:31:26To have somebody
00:31:28Essentially standing
00:31:28Over their shoulder
00:31:29Telling them what was okay
00:31:31And what wasn't okay
00:31:32Drugs are menacing our society
00:31:34They're threatening our values
00:31:35And undercutting our institutions
00:31:37They're killing our children
00:31:39Ross agreed with the libertarian idea
00:31:42That people have the natural desire
00:31:44To do stuff like drugs
00:31:46And that when you have
00:31:47A legal set up
00:31:48Where access to drugs
00:31:49Is prohibited
00:31:49Drugs take away the dream
00:31:52From every child's heart
00:31:53And replace it with a nightmare
00:31:55You don't stop people
00:31:57From doing drugs
00:31:58You've just made it more likely
00:31:59That they'll get injured
00:32:00Or they'll get ripped off
00:32:01Or they'll get
00:32:02Into an uncomfortable relationship
00:32:05With some shady drug dealer
00:32:06But if we face this evil
00:32:08As a nation united
00:32:11This will be nothing
00:32:13But a handful
00:32:14Of useless chemicals
00:32:16I'm sure in his mind
00:32:18He was thinking
00:32:19There's got to be a better way
00:32:20You know
00:32:21So Ross and I
00:32:28We started off
00:32:28As neighbors down the hall
00:32:30Eventually
00:32:32Needed to find a new place
00:32:34And he and his girlfriend
00:32:35Were also looking for a new place
00:32:37So we ended up moving in together
00:32:39We got a two bedroom apartment
00:32:49Which is a really cute place
00:32:51It had a hot tub
00:32:52And everything
00:32:53It was really fun
00:32:54Have you ever been to Big Ben
00:32:59Yeah
00:33:00National Park
00:33:01Yeah
00:33:01Looking up at the sky
00:33:03And looking at
00:33:04So many stars out there
00:33:05Yeah
00:33:06It was chilling in his hot springs
00:33:08And a blue fireball
00:33:10I kid you not
00:33:11Streaked
00:33:11Probably
00:33:12You know
00:33:13Like an arc like this
00:33:14Across the sky
00:33:15That was a weather balloon
00:33:17Filled with methane gas
00:33:19Right
00:33:19It was some kind of like
00:33:20Space junk
00:33:21I think it was like
00:33:22Human trash
00:33:22Honestly
00:33:23We had jacked trash into space
00:33:27I had no idea
00:33:28Ross was always
00:33:35Working on a new project
00:33:36He was always telling me
00:33:37You can accomplish more
00:33:38Than you think you can
00:33:39But as far as I can tell
00:33:41He never really clicked for him
00:33:42With sort of the nine to five
00:33:44Type of work
00:33:45I hate having to lie to people
00:33:54Friends will tell me
00:33:59Why don't you do this
00:34:00Or that
00:34:01Like I have all this free time
00:34:04One time he made me these steaks
00:34:08And at some point
00:34:11He was like
00:34:11Can't really talk about it
00:34:12I have this project
00:34:13I'm working on it
00:34:14I'm really excited about it
00:34:15It's currency based
00:34:16And I thought
00:34:17You know what
00:34:18This is his new project
00:34:19He's working on it
00:34:20We'll see where it goes
00:34:21I was honestly like
00:34:22Okay great
00:34:23That's awesome
00:34:24The problem is
00:34:27For Ross
00:34:27He would work on a new project
00:34:30And then it would just
00:34:31Not pan out
00:34:32And that was sort of
00:34:33The way I knew him
00:34:34Being an entrepreneur
00:34:36Is very hard
00:34:37Most people fail
00:34:39I just want to scream
00:34:45I'm running
00:34:48A multi-million dollar
00:34:50Criminal enterprise
00:34:52Growing up
00:35:10Everyone knew I was a drug dealer
00:35:12When I went down to Silk Road
00:35:14I completely went dark
00:35:16Everyone just thought
00:35:18That I was doing
00:35:19A normal job
00:35:2099% of the time
00:35:21I dress up in suits
00:35:22It's not how you look today
00:35:23I'm wearing
00:35:24$3,000 pants
00:35:26I had all the money
00:35:45I wanted to
00:35:46I could do anything
00:35:47I really hadn't even imagined
00:35:49The most baller thing we did
00:35:53We went to
00:35:54Katia in Thailand
00:35:55It was during the
00:35:57Festival of Color
00:35:57We paid a whole bunch of people
00:36:00To ride us around on elephants
00:36:01We were on top of the elephants
00:36:02Smoking
00:36:03Heroin
00:36:04And all sorts of crazy things
00:36:06On top of elephants
00:36:06Throwing $100 bills
00:36:07Out of the air
00:36:08It was like one of those
00:36:11Painted elephants
00:36:12And everything too
00:36:12And they have like
00:36:13The wooden little house on top
00:36:15It's hard to get across
00:36:22In this medium
00:36:22But
00:36:24I love you
00:36:25I love you guys
00:36:27I'm trying to have a bunch of other
00:36:31Stupid shit with my money
00:36:32But
00:36:32That was like one of the most
00:36:34That was like the happiest
00:36:35Point in my life
00:36:36Thank you for being here
00:36:40Thank you for being my comrades
00:36:43Thanks you for giving me
00:36:46The best job in the world
00:36:48So I grow up
00:37:13With my family
00:37:13In the projects
00:37:14In Brooklyn, New York
00:37:15And we could see firsthand
00:37:17The devastation that drugs
00:37:19Brought to the community
00:37:20You would walk the streets
00:37:22And you would see people
00:37:23High on drugs
00:37:24And you know
00:37:25It was always something
00:37:26That you was afraid of
00:37:27Because
00:37:28You know
00:37:28If somebody was
00:37:29Addicted to
00:37:30Some of these drugs
00:37:31You didn't know
00:37:31What they would do
00:37:32You knew these people
00:37:32Were desperate
00:37:33People throwing babies
00:37:35Out the window
00:37:35And people jumping
00:37:36Out of windows
00:37:37And
00:37:37I mean
00:37:39Crack doesn't care about
00:37:40Who you are
00:37:41It devastates
00:37:43Whoever used it
00:37:43It is frustrating
00:37:50When you think
00:37:51You found something
00:37:52And you don't think
00:37:53Other people
00:37:53As enthusiastic
00:37:54As you are
00:37:55But in those times
00:37:57You just have to
00:37:58Remain professional
00:37:58Say well listen
00:37:59Just keep working
00:38:01Your case
00:38:01Doesn't really matter
00:38:02What they think
00:38:03If it's the truth
00:38:05Then they're gonna
00:38:06Have to deal with me
00:38:07I continued to look
00:38:11Through all the public
00:38:12Records
00:38:12Of what Mr. Ulbricht
00:38:14Had put out there
00:38:15And he had somewhat
00:38:17Of a public footprint
00:38:18He was in his late 20s
00:38:20He had a master's degree
00:38:21He had a background
00:38:23In finance
00:38:23The strange thing was
00:38:25Whatever DPR was into
00:38:28Ulbricht was into
00:38:29DPR loved Ron Paul
00:38:33Ulbricht loved Ron Paul
00:38:35And some brand
00:38:37Of Austrian economics
00:38:38That I had not heard about
00:38:39Until in this case
00:38:40But DPR loved
00:38:42That brand of economics
00:38:44And so did Ulbricht
00:38:45So everything I found
00:38:48I said wow
00:38:48Everything is matching up
00:38:50To this DPR
00:38:50My husband's real name
00:39:06Is Curtis Green
00:39:07He got into Silk Road
00:39:09In the beginning
00:39:10Because he does take
00:39:12A lot of prescription
00:39:13Pain medication
00:39:14For some injuries
00:39:15He's had
00:39:16That's why he used
00:39:18The handle
00:39:18Chronic pain
00:39:19As Curtis became
00:39:22More involved
00:39:22In Silk Road
00:39:23He would go
00:39:24And post on the forums
00:39:25He has knowledge
00:39:27Of a lot of
00:39:28Prescription medications
00:39:29And people
00:39:30Found it very helpful
00:39:31DPR started
00:39:34To take notice
00:39:35Curtis actually called me
00:39:40And said come home
00:39:41I have good news
00:39:42So I hurried home
00:39:45And went in
00:39:45And he said guess what
00:39:47DPR offered me a job
00:39:50On Silk Road
00:39:51Just changing passwords
00:39:55And settling disputes
00:39:56Between vendors
00:39:57And buyers
00:39:58And I said that's all
00:40:00He's not asking you
00:40:00To sell
00:40:01Correct
00:40:02And he said no
00:40:03Oh no
00:40:03It's not that
00:40:04You know $800 a week
00:40:07Is not chump change
00:40:09I mean
00:40:09That's more than I make
00:40:11Working full time
00:40:12But there was one catch
00:40:16He had to send
00:40:18A copy of his driver's license
00:40:19So DPR would know
00:40:21Where he was at
00:40:21And who he was
00:40:22Looking back now
00:40:26Yeah that was
00:40:27A big mistake
00:40:28Ross and I actually
00:40:39At that time
00:40:40Started to kind of get
00:40:41A little rocky
00:40:43Just a lot of arguing
00:40:45Just a lot of fighting
00:40:46He had mentioned
00:40:49His desire to make
00:40:50A website
00:40:51Much like Amazon
00:40:52That was anonymous
00:40:53Where people
00:40:55Didn't have to worry
00:40:56About the government
00:40:56Getting in on their
00:40:57Sales and their money
00:40:58The idea of making money
00:41:01Outside of the government
00:41:02Is very very scary to me
00:41:04Maybe it was selfish of me
00:41:07But I said
00:41:08Do I really want my boyfriend
00:41:09To go to jail
00:41:10He didn't listen to me
00:41:20I'm not sure
00:41:29How else to put it
00:41:30The biggest con
00:41:33About his work
00:41:34Is not the risk
00:41:37Of going to jail
00:41:38I couldn't believe it
00:41:42I mean I thought
00:41:42I was going to end up
00:41:44With Ross
00:41:44And we were possibly
00:41:45Going to get married
00:41:46It's living with
00:41:50That possibility
00:41:51And keeping your work
00:41:54A secret
00:41:54I just think
00:41:57A lot of those things
00:41:58Kind of made us
00:41:58Naturally drift apart
00:42:00So we broke up
00:42:02So I don't really know
00:42:05What happened after that
00:42:06A couple weeks after I found the name Ross Obrick
00:42:20I was using Google to do tons of internet search as you can imagine
00:42:39I was amazed
00:42:42I was amazed
00:42:42The last thing I thought I would find
00:42:44Is a 35 minute video
00:42:46Of him on the internet talking
00:42:48Today is December 6th 2012
00:42:53I'm here in San Francisco
00:42:55I'm 28 years old
00:42:57And a friend of the guy who's about to introduce himself to you
00:43:01It was a very long video
00:43:03It was like 35 minutes
00:43:04With him and his friend
00:43:06And I guess they did it
00:43:07For some sort of documentary
00:43:08And it was eye opening for me
00:43:11Because this is the first time
00:43:12I got to see Mr. Obrick speaking
00:43:15So Rene
00:43:17What do you want to talk about today?
00:43:21They talked about them just growing up
00:43:24I remember you being very like
00:43:27Quirky and witty
00:43:31And like
00:43:34Just cooler than me
00:43:37Oh how things have changed
00:43:40It was such a brutally honest
00:43:44What appeared to be such a brutally honest conversation
00:43:46Between two friends
00:43:47They talked about their sexual interactions
00:43:51Even losing their virginity
00:43:52First thing I noticed about her
00:43:53Was
00:43:54Very nice
00:43:56She was dating a guy named Chad at the time
00:43:59Chad I don't like him already
00:44:01Chad was a total
00:44:03Chad was a kind of small time pot dealer
00:44:07His best friend had asked Ross to move out to San Francisco with him
00:44:13You twisted my arm until I said
00:44:16Ah fine I'll come
00:44:18And in this conversation he asked him
00:44:21Well what were you doing in Austin, Texas
00:44:23Before I asked you to move
00:44:25Let's see
00:44:26Let's see
00:44:26I was um
00:44:27I was living in Austin, Texas
00:44:33The meh of startups
00:44:34And uh
00:44:39But when his friend asked him that
00:44:41He had no answer
00:44:43He was stumbling around his answers
00:44:58And he was
00:44:58When I looked at it on YouTube
00:45:13How many views it had
00:45:14I believe it had one
00:45:16Maybe two views
00:45:17And there were two people in the video
00:45:19I'm the third person watching it
00:45:22That was when it hit me
00:45:23Like wow
00:45:24I might be the only one
00:45:26Looking at this guy
00:45:27As being Dread Pyroberts
00:45:29The Silk Road
00:45:41Had obviously grown into a real phenomenon
00:45:43In fact a phenomenon
00:45:45Unlike anything I'd ever seen before on the internet
00:45:47So after eight months of badgering him on the Silk Road forums
00:45:51DPR finally agreed to a real on the record interview
00:45:56He made me an honorary drug dealer on the Silk Road
00:46:05Just for a few hours
00:46:06So that we could communicate anonymously
00:46:08He was funny at times
00:46:14But also arrogant to a certain degree
00:46:18He definitely took credit
00:46:19For creating something new in the history of mankind
00:46:22And that's how he wanted to be seen
00:46:24He preferred to talk about himself
00:46:30And to see himself as a political figure
00:46:32The leader of this philosophical and political movement
00:46:34And took offense to this idea
00:46:36That he might just be a mere drug dealer
00:46:38But he wasn't ashamed of the fact also
00:46:47That he was making enormous amounts of money from this
00:46:50At one point he told me
00:46:52That he wouldn't sell the Silk Road
00:46:53For less than 10 or 11 figures
00:46:55That's tens of billions of dollars
00:46:56And he also told me
00:46:58That someday we would have to
00:47:00Put him on the Forbes rich list
00:47:02Of the world's wealthiest people
00:47:03Can you imagine being one of the most famous anonymous people in the world
00:47:12Just dying for that bit of recognition
00:47:14That you can't ask for anyone
00:47:16That Forbes article is his recognition
00:47:18He got it
00:47:21But that's not how you run an organization like this
00:47:24I have to say
00:47:25I did think he was overconfident from that moment
00:47:28You know, I asked him
00:47:29Do you worry that the government can break Tor
00:47:33Can trace bitcoins
00:47:35Can somehow crack the encryption that you're using
00:47:37It was a very short answer
00:47:41He seemed completely confident
00:47:46That he was invincible
00:47:48And an invisible character on the dark web
00:47:50They should have just maintained a site to sell drugs
00:48:00It was a quiet community
00:48:03We were all doing our own thing
00:48:04We were being happy
00:48:05Then politics started getting brought into it
00:48:08It was no longer a marketplace for drugs like it was
00:48:14Now it was the new libertarian front for freedom
00:48:17The vendors, like myself, saw it as
00:48:24Dude, you're up our thing we got going on here
00:48:28Just shut up and let us operate
00:48:30One day in January
00:48:41Curtis and I were on the phone
00:48:43Because I was out of state in Kentucky
00:48:44And he said that the mailman was delivering a package
00:48:50But he was not in a normal mail truck
00:48:53My first thoughts were
00:48:56Something's going on with Silk Road
00:48:58Curtis opened the door
00:49:01And by then the mail person was already gone
00:49:03He grabbed the package
00:49:06He brought it in, opened it
00:49:08And a big plume of cocaine went into his face
00:49:11And then the door busted open
00:49:14There was the DEA, Homeland Security, Postal Inspectors
00:49:20And they told him if he did not cooperate with them
00:49:25They would get him for 40 years prison time
00:49:29They wanted his usernames, his passwords
00:49:35His access into Silk Road
00:49:36That was their goal
00:49:39They were after DPR
00:49:40And also it was revealed that $350,000 worth of bitcoins were stolen
00:49:49And it was put in Curtis' account
00:49:51That just made the feds come down harder on Curtis
00:49:56They kept accusing him of stealing this money
00:49:59And Curtis had no idea what they were talking about
00:50:02Oh, that's her dad
00:50:05I know him
00:50:07Look how the fuck do you ever have
00:50:09Let me try
00:50:09I know him
00:50:11My head and then he is
00:50:12Not friend
00:50:14I love you
00:50:16Give him an curse
00:50:17I love you
00:50:18I love him
00:50:24Look how the fuck do you ever want
00:50:24I love him
00:50:26I love him
00:50:27Let me ask Jess
00:50:29Ever
00:50:30I don't know.
00:51:00I don't know.
00:51:30I don't know.
00:52:00I don't know.
00:52:02I don't know.
00:52:04I don't know.
00:52:06I don't know.
00:52:08I don't know.
00:52:10I'm pretty sure he wasn't over his head.
00:52:14He didn't really know how to control it once it was that big.
00:52:18That kind of stress and that kind of power that you have can change who you are.
00:52:23I don't know.
00:52:29I don't know.
00:52:31I don't know.
00:52:33I don't know.
00:52:35I don't know.
00:52:37I don't know.
00:52:39I don't know.
00:52:41I don't know.
00:52:43I don't know.
00:52:45I don't know.
00:52:47I don't know.
00:52:48I don't know.
00:52:49I don't know.
00:52:51I don't know.
00:52:52I don't know.
00:52:53I don't know.
00:52:54I don't know.
00:52:55I don't know.
00:52:56I don't know.
00:52:57I don't know.
00:52:58I don't know.
00:53:03One of the agents, Carl Force, a DEA undercover agent,
00:53:08sat him down and told him that he had been undercover on Silk Road and that he was using the handle knob.
00:53:17And he told them that he had got an message from DPR that night that stated that he wanted him tortured so they could get the money back.
00:53:29The D agent told Curtis that in order to keep his cover,
00:53:32because DPR believed him to be a drug vendor
00:53:35and an all-around bad guy, he would have
00:53:39to pretend to torture Curtis and make it very believable.
00:53:44So DPR would think that he had done his job.
00:53:58They took him to a hotel in downtown Salt Lake City,
00:54:09and they walked him up to the room.
00:54:18They asked him to take off his jacket.
00:54:22They made him get down on his knees,
00:54:24and they filled up the bathtub full of water.
00:54:28Pushed his head down in the water,
00:54:30and held it there for quite some time.
00:54:37Curtis was panicking.
00:54:38His arms were flailing.
00:54:40You know, he was trying to get up.
00:54:46And they still held him down as they snapped pictures.
00:54:52I'm going to go.
00:54:53I'm going to go.
00:54:54I'm going to go.
00:54:55I'm going to go.
00:54:56I'm going to go.
00:54:57I'm going to go.
00:54:58I'm going to go.
00:54:59I'm going to go.
00:55:00I'm going to go.
00:55:01And he said it felt like it went on forever,
00:55:04like it was never going to stop.
00:55:05I'm going to go.
00:55:06So long,
00:55:07is never going to stop.
00:57:08Whatever Ross Ulbricht eventually became, I think that he started the project and his primary motive for the whole thing was about creating a kind of political movement in this little anarchic corner of the internet.
00:57:22And at some point also, I think he felt that he was responsible to the Silk Road community, that he was protecting these people.
00:57:40And was willing to resort to violence to protect the community that he created.
00:58:34A spokesman for Hazelden that operates treatment centers for drug and alcohol addiction agrees the war on drugs has been a failure.
00:58:50Curtis came home from the second day of these interrogations, and he took me by the hand.
00:59:09And he said that the order had been switched from torture to kill.
00:59:14And I was so upset, I mean, tears were streaming down his face.
00:59:21He's like, what did I do to our family?
00:59:23The DEA agent asked me to take some photographs of Curtis since when they were in Salt Lake that weekend, they only took torture photos.
00:59:39They didn't take pictures.
00:59:40They didn't take any death photos.
00:59:41So they asked me to stage it as best as I could that Curtis was dead.
00:59:46I took some Campbell's chicken and star soup and had Curtis kind of chew it and smear it all over his face.
00:59:56And had some kind of dribbling down and kind of on his shirt so it looked like he had vomited.
01:00:03And then I just had him lay very still so it looked like he was dead.
01:00:08It seemed really crazy that I was going to have to do this.
01:00:12I was shocked.
01:00:13Like, don't you want a professional doing this?
01:00:16Taking these pictures was basically life or death.
01:00:19It was.
01:00:20It really was.
01:00:21If I didn't do a good enough job, then the gig was up and they would come after him.
01:00:27And we wouldn't have any protection.
01:00:38That was beautiful.
01:00:55My daughter was here.
01:01:00It was actually a beautiful thing.
01:01:06Silk Road not only consumes your normal drug dealing life, it consumes all your life.
01:01:36Even though it sounds very easy, the stress just like ramps up.
01:01:45Is there going to be tomorrow?
01:01:46What am I going to be doing tomorrow?
01:01:47Am I going to be okay tomorrow?
01:01:48Am I going to be a jail cell?
01:01:49Am I going to be dead tomorrow?
01:01:54Most bad guys make a mistake and the FBI is usually there when they make that mistake.
01:02:17We decided to just throw anything and everything at the Silk Road server.
01:02:34The goal was to try to poke the server to see if we can get information that it shouldn't
01:02:41be given up.
01:02:42And all the while, we're using a very simple tool, a network packet sniffer, which basically
01:02:49captures the communication between our computer and the FBI that we were using and the computer
01:02:57that it ultimately communicates with.
01:03:05Eventually, we saw an IP address that really stood out.
01:03:14We took and copied that IP address.
01:03:17He throws it in a clean browser, browser not related to Tor.
01:03:21A traditional browser and then hit enter.
01:03:27When we did that, the Silk Road login page popped up.
01:03:39This was a huge moment for the investigation.
01:03:42It just proved that we found the true IP address for the location of the Silk Road server, located
01:03:50in Iceland.
01:04:07Ping opens up and sure enough, it's the server.
01:04:10It has the famous camel image of the Silk Road logo.
01:04:14When we were reviewing the server, we learned that behind the scenes, when DPR would log
01:04:19into the Silk Road server as an administrator, he wouldn't use his name, DPR.
01:04:25He came up with another name.
01:04:27He came up with the name Frosty.
01:04:32And one of the things we were able to identify was a last known login from the administrator.
01:04:39An IP address that resolved back, that comes back to an actual internet cafe in San Francisco.
01:04:58So after continuing investigating Ross Ulbricht, I learned more about these technical terms
01:05:03about some of the programming that would go into running a site.
01:05:07As I learned these technical terms, I would continue doing these Google searches to see
01:05:11if something come up.
01:05:13So one of the terms was Codeigniter, which is some programming language.
01:05:16So when I put that in with his name, I got a response back about a post on a website, Tech
01:05:23Cues, about programming.
01:05:25So when you click the link, it took me to another site, Stack Overflow.
01:05:28But the question on Stack Overflow was under this other avatar called Frosty.
01:05:39A lot of people were looking into Silk Road.
01:05:41So there was an idea that there should be a meeting to get all interested parties to see
01:05:47if we can get all on the same page.
01:05:49You know, people having a case is like people and their babies.
01:05:58Everyone thinks their baby is beautiful, but there are some ugly babies out there.
01:06:02The Bureau had obtained a copy of the Silk Road server.
01:06:08It was just sitting on this computer.
01:06:10I believe it was an Apple.
01:06:11And it was this big screen.
01:06:15On the board, they had like these big diagrams, a picture of Dread Pirate Roberts from the movie.
01:06:21And I saw all these arrows.
01:06:22But I tried not to look at it because I'm there just to look at the server.
01:06:26Gary Alford, the IRS agent, he came in and he was, you know, as a new agent, as a new agent
01:06:32would, wanted to move things along.
01:06:35While I was there, I heard in the background that someone said we had gotten on some San
01:06:41Francisco address.
01:06:42So I mentioned, I said, hey, I have a guy, a guy I'm looking at.
01:06:45He lives in San Francisco.
01:06:47And he was like, really?
01:06:48I was like, yeah, yeah.
01:06:50I can't speak for them, but it didn't seem like, you know, I had dropped like the big
01:06:54key to their case on them.
01:06:56They were somewhat dismissive.
01:07:02So I immediately get on the phone and tell the prosecutor, I'm probably talking real fast,
01:07:09all excited.
01:07:10I'm so excited.
01:07:11I had to slow down.
01:07:12He says, well, what's the address of this individual, Mr. Olbert?
01:07:20He runs it against an IP location the FBI had found where there was some DPR activity.
01:07:27And he sees that they're around the corner from each other.
01:07:30So then he says, we have to have a conference call between you, the FBI, and HSI immediately.
01:07:37At the time, I was in Chicago, and that's where I called in to the conference call.
01:07:50All it really was is that he had a target in San Francisco, and he saw that we had San
01:07:54Francisco logins.
01:07:55I thought at the time that it was almost too easy, that a guy wouldn't be as open as using
01:08:00his name in an email account.
01:08:02And he had videos of himself on YouTube and just open stuff to the public.
01:08:10But in his summary, the prosecutor forgot to mention the link to Frosty.
01:08:15So then when he finished, I said, well, there's one other link I found.
01:08:19I found that Ross Olbert was linked to this avatar Frosty.
01:08:26Immediately, the FBI agent starts coming in like, what?
01:08:30What was that?
01:08:31Frosty?
01:08:32Frosty.
01:08:33What is the significance of Frosty?
01:08:34So I explained to him, that's just the avatar he used.
01:08:35You know, I thought it was kind of strange he was asking this question.
01:08:38But then he says, well, the reason I keep asking this is because whoever's running Silk
01:08:43Road DPR, that is the name of the user that operates the site, Frosty.
01:08:51It started becoming apparent that this was a very, very likely target for us.
01:08:56I actually felt more pressure than I had felt before.
01:09:01We started gathering all the information to get an arrest warrant for Mr. Olbert.
01:09:26Ross responded to a Craigslist ad that we had posted online, renting out the room directly
01:09:30above mine in the house.
01:09:35Ross lived a really simple life, a very modest life.
01:09:39He did buy some furniture from garage sale down the street.
01:09:45I never got the sense that Ross was really well off.
01:09:50He was kind of doing whatever he was on his computer just to pay rent and get by.
01:09:57Ross said he worked on websites.
01:10:00And at one point I remember he said he worked in trading currency as well.
01:10:06And I remember asking, I was like, oh, like Bitcoin, kind of jokingly because it was something
01:10:11I had read about that I thought was this like far-fetched idea.
01:10:15And, you know, he kind of was just like, oh, there's a little bit of that.
01:10:20I'm so stupid.
01:10:24I'm so stupid.
01:10:29Everyone knows I'm working on a Bitcoin exchange.
01:10:43I felt wrong to lie completely.
01:10:46So I tried to tell the truth without revealing the bad part.
01:10:51I'm pretty sure I want to start a family in the next five years.
01:11:06And just, yeah, make more friends and close people I love.
01:11:13Yeah.
01:11:14I want to focus on being more connected to people.
01:11:19September 30th, 2013 is when I took my flight in San Francisco.
01:11:36At the time I was monitoring J.P. Roberts 24-7 with my account.
01:11:42Oh, my name.
01:11:58Not here.
01:12:09It was important to really become that identity, and what I did is I sat down with Scout for
01:12:23the next three or four days and fully debriefed that person on everything.
01:12:29There was different lingo that I did become accustomed to, every single way that they
01:12:32wrote things to what they were thinking.
01:12:36We didn't know the full history of that account.
01:12:43Even when I left, I had another agent monitor that account while I was in the air.
01:12:50I was really still trying to take in the whole thought that we were potentially on the cusp of
01:12:56arresting this person that we've been pursuing for so long.
01:13:06We wanted to get him in a spot where we can grab him, machine open, without trying to force our way in.
01:13:17It was critical for us to get Mr. Ulbrich on the laptop for a couple of reasons. Number one,
01:13:22what better evidence to show that he is Dread Pirate Robbers than he's typing away as Dread Pirate
01:13:27Robbers at the time of arrest? Secondly, there could be valuable information on the laptop
01:13:34that he's aware of encryption, so he may do something to the laptop to encrypt it,
01:13:38to put it in a state that we can't get access to the information.
01:13:46He lived in a three flat, and he was up on the top of it, and we would have to get through a very
01:13:51large steel door and try to get to him before he would do anything to his laptop.
01:13:56So our plan was to take the chance of having Ross leave his residence, open his laptop, log in,
01:14:03and actually grab him in the middle of either chatting with Jared or being on the site.
01:14:10Surveillance still had him at his home, and so we waited in one of the neighborhoods really close by.
01:14:21I had put in my request to travel out because I was to be on the interview team because I knew the
01:14:33most about Mr. Ulbrich, but I couldn't get the approval to fly out in time for the arrest.
01:14:39It was affecting investigations probably in almost every state and globally, and it all was coming
01:14:46down to this identification that I had made of Mr. Ulbrich. Was there doubt? Yes. There's no certainty in this job.
01:15:04All too often in investigations, it's about 20 hours of pure boredom followed by five minutes of sheer terror.
01:15:10Jared's a young agent. At this point, he was tense. He could tell he was tense at the time.
01:15:28Later on in the day, he signed off from being online, and I took that opportunity to go order a coffee.
01:15:34That's when the call comes in from the SO team that Ross is leaving his apartment, and he's got his laptop bag with him.
01:15:49All I was thinking really at the time was, I'm not going to get this coffee probably out in time,
01:15:53and I'm going to have to leave it. You know, I'm like, because you have to do what you have to do
01:15:56to pretty much accomplish a mission, but I'm like, I really wanted that coffee too.
01:16:00I exited the cafe, and I saw one of the FBI specialists that was from New York, Thomas Kiernan,
01:16:09sitting on a bench across the street. And so I went over there, and I joined him, and I put my computer up.
01:16:16I looked over to my right, and there I saw Ulbrich standing on the street corner about 40 feet away from me.
01:16:22This was the man that was running this global drug empire. He looked like a San Francisco techie kid
01:16:31that you'd expect to have a startup company somewhere in San Fran getting ready to launch his site.
01:16:38Light turns green, and he crosses the street where he went to the Dunn Park Library.
01:16:44It was a Tuesday afternoon. It was after three o'clock.
01:16:54Glen Park is a small branch of the San Francisco Public Library system. Tends to be that not much
01:17:01happens there. The library has Wi-Fi, and the Wi-Fi is thought to be best in the corner where the young
01:17:08man was sitting in the science fiction section. At that time, the FBI agent came and met me back
01:17:17at the bench with Thomas Kiernan, trying to get the rest of the agents that were
01:17:20on site at the time into the library. We waited, and after a few minutes,
01:17:26Jeremiah Roberts did come online and on the staff chat, and I immediately sent him a message.
01:17:31Jared and I are sitting on the bench across the street from the library, waiting for DPR to log
01:17:42in and start chatting.
01:17:59I asked him to do me a favor and to look at one of these messages
01:18:12that I had control over, and what that would do is it would require him to log into the marketplace.
01:18:19He ends up telling me, okay, which post? And once he did that, that let me know that he was on
01:18:27that page I asked him to go to, and that's the time that I gave a cue to the FBI agent to do the rest.
01:18:35I'm already on my way across the street into the library, and I guess that's when
01:18:38the case agents start their communications on, this is about to go. It's hard to describe it.
01:18:45The adrenaline is flowing. It's good energy, basically.
01:18:53We got into this little huddle in the middle of the library. I'm sure it looked odd to some people,
01:18:57but it was very quick.
01:18:59And that's when we came up with this plan for diversion.
01:19:08Two agents come right behind where Ross is sitting, five is Ross, sitting right behind me,
01:19:13and they start yelling. They start getting into a fight, a verbal fight.
01:19:19Ross turns around to go look what's going on,
01:19:23and during that time, that's when the third agent grabs the laptop from him. That's when I come out
01:19:30of my positioning and grab the laptop from the third agent at the time.
01:19:45This was so unusual for someone to be arrested in the Glen Park Library that I actually did run back
01:19:50and text my son on my phone saying, just to let you know, a bunch of FBI agents just came in and
01:19:56busted a guy and took him out in handcuffs, because he always thinks my job is so boring.
01:20:02The most disturbing thing to me about it was that my son knew exactly what Silk Road was.
01:20:07Well, I don't know why he'd do that.
01:20:08There's no way to really describe it, but everything, everything is there. Everything is on
01:20:19that machine, and it's all laid out. It's organized. It's unbelievable. It's the smoking gun.
01:20:28A secret website that played host to a massive black market drug ring is offline this morning. The
01:20:33alleged mastermind goes by the nickname Dread Pirate Roberts.
01:20:40I got an email from Jared when they got him, and he said, he said, Gary, you were right.
01:20:48And that was a great moment. I had done my job well. So it was a sense of, I felt a sense of satisfaction.
01:21:03He was supposed to fly down and come see me, and we were going to get back together,
01:21:18and he was probably going to move in with me, and then he got arrested.
01:21:23Two days before he was supposed to fly in and come see me,
01:21:26I had my friend call me and say, oh my god, did you hear? And I said, what are you talking about?
01:21:31She said, Google Ross's name right now.
01:21:43After having had enough time to digest it, it's like, well, can I see Ross being involved in
01:21:54something online? Yes. Can I see Ross being involved in something to do with bitcoins? Yes. Can I see
01:22:00Ross being involved in something to do with drugs? Yes. But the idea that the alleged owner and operator
01:22:06of the Silk Road, this mastermind character was Ross, that would have been, you know, beyond unbelievable.
01:22:14Perhaps the most intriguing charge against the 29-year-old is that he was engaged in a murder
01:22:19for hire conspiracy, trying to enlist the help of one of the site's users to execute another.
01:22:36DPR always talked about taking away violence off the streets, but then hearing about the attempted
01:22:50murder for hire, it just cut against everything that he was saying on the site.
01:22:56Ross was very nonviolent. He didn't believe in force, so a lot of the stuff in the media about how he
01:23:03tried to kill someone through the hitman and all this stuff, it's just not Ross.
01:23:07The idea that he would ever have made the leap from the best way to implement my vision of a,
01:23:14you know, a more market-based and less compulsion and violence-oriented society is to have people
01:23:19murdered is, I mean, it's absurd on its face. To me, it wasn't surprising because this is the drug
01:23:25business and that's what goes on in the drug business. Eventually, you do these illegal things and,
01:23:31you know, even if you have good intentions, you're around a bunch of criminal actors.
01:23:47The creator of a hugely successful and potentially dangerous tech startup learned just moments ago
01:24:02that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. So it's life in prison. That's what a judge handed
01:24:08down to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online black market site known as Silk Road. Prior to the
01:24:13sentencing, Ross Ulbricht addressed the courtroom and he said that if he is ever to see the light
01:24:19of day, he's now a completely changed man and he will live in full accordance with the law.
01:24:25The judge came back and was, was said, no, that, this was, you wanted this to be your legacy, right?
01:24:29Right. She said, you want this to be your legacy? You wanted it to be your legacy and now it is.
01:24:34The result of taking on the Silk Road has been that, you know, dozens of dark web drug markets have
01:24:39taken its place, some of which are doing far more business, far more revenue, far more narcotics
01:24:46than the Silk Road ever did in sales. And many of them lack the, the ideals that the Silk Road did have.
01:24:54The dark web has only gotten darker.
01:25:00The biggest struggle for me is kind of reconciling the two,
01:25:04two people. So like Dread Pirate Roberts and Ross Ulbricht.
01:25:11But I, I think the internet kind of enables people to act in a way they might not normally,
01:25:18just because there's a, there's a very big disconnect between what you do online and what
01:25:22you do in your physical life.
01:25:24You got any more questions or should we wrap it up?
01:25:27Yeah. Future, future outlook. What are you going to do over the next 20 years?
01:25:3620 years. I want to have had a substantial positive impact on the future of humanity by that time.
01:25:46Do you think you're going to live forever?
01:25:48I think it's a possibility.
01:26:18I just wanted to find the way that the 15th of my life will not predict the same sort of
01:26:23of the end.
01:26:25But I think the 15th of my life will also be getting all the same kind because of the
01:26:28life itself.
01:26:31Just any more information, the excuse me, you can find what I do if there is.
01:26:35So as far as advice, please try and support me,
01:26:38just for the time, and I've got started in that way.
01:26:40So I'm sure at the time.
01:26:43What are you going to do over the next 20th of New York life
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