26.6.17 Dark Web and Cybercrime Roundup

Six Indicted in Darknet Fentanyl Distribution Ring

The case against the former Alphabay vendor known as Pharma-Master grew substantially larger. A superseding grand jury Indictment charged five additional suspects in one of the “nation’s largest fentanyl cases.” In 2016, authorities arrested a fentanyl dealer. Police later revealed that t he dealer was a well-known Alphabay vendor. The superseding indictment added a host of information about the case, along with five new co-defendants. During some of the raids, police found 70,000 fake Oxycodone pills, $1.2 million in cash, and “more than approximately 25,000 pills that have the appearance of Alprazolam.” DeepDotWeb

Cobb man accused of having 214 pounds of pot shipped from California

A Georgia man almost received a 214-pound package of marijuana from a drug trafficking ring in California. Investigators intercepted the 214-pound package of marijuana before the suspect picked it up. Then arrested him. Patrick Michael Ross, the suspect in question, admitted his crime to the police, including details of the operation. He told officers that he was a part of a drug trafficking ring from California. He “orders marijuana in large quantities and distributes them to other parties,” court documents revealed. He received $1,500 for receiving the drugs, Ross told the authorities. The suspect currently sits in the Cobb County Jail without bond. Reddit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kansas Pizza Shop Owner Indicted for Meth Trafficking

A pizza shop owner recently found his name at the top of a 35-count grand jury indictment. The resulting press spared neither the owner, Adolfo Barragan-Rodriguez, nor his restaurant, Pronto Pizza in Topeka, Kansas. The shop owner and nine co-conspirators were caught the trafficking methamphetamine through FedEx. And Pronto Pizza served as a front for their drug dealing enterprise. In one package, police intercepted four pounds of methamphetamine and a package with $14,000. One defendant was caught with 92 firearms. The indictment contained the usual drug trafficking charges; conspiracy, interstate commerce, furtherance of drug trafficking, etc. DeepDotWeb

Interest in Crowdfunding for Tralfamadore: A Decentralized DNM on the Ethereum Blockchain

Tralfamadore is a darknet marketplace that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. With the Ethereum blockchain serving as the marketplace’s backbone, the marketplace contents—sales, listings, vendors, escrows, and reviews—will be effectively impermeable. Impermeable in that they will exist “forever.” Tralfamadore is basically an Ethereum version of the PHP databases used by current markets. The frontends will be, and are, centralized though. Any frontend (the current demo is an HTML site called “The Directory”) can plug into the same Tralfamadore “database” or backend as any other frontend. This allows for a more diverse spread of markets. Reddit

ProtonVPN has launched and ProtonVPN Beta is ending soon

Proton Technologies, the company behind ProtonMail, a privacy-oriented email service, publicly launched their VPN. ProtonMail is well-known for the email security and usability. And many have been looking forward to ProtonVPN, ProtonMail users especially. There is a free plan with low speeds and only accessible via one device. Basic costs $4 per month and allows two devices. Plus is $8 post month, allows five devices, utilizes the “Secure Core,” and has Tor servers. And, as with ProtonMail, there is a Visionary account; it costs $24 per month, allows ten devices, has the fastest speeds, and includes ProtonMail Visionary. However, ProtonVPN is far from the only option for secure VPN services. We have a VPN comparison list that may prove helpful for anyone looking to find a VPN. ProtonMail VPN Comparison Chart (See also: Is Your VPN Legit or Shit?)