Legalities regarding LEO operating a DNM?

Are there any laws preventing United States LE from operating a market long term? Afterall, they would be facilitating a huge ammount of crime, assisting in delivering tons of drugs into our streets which have undoubtly caused some deaths, harboring a bunch of fraud and identity theft that is costing citizens untold amounts of money and trouble, all just to collect intel on dealers and buyers.

If LE was running Evo or Agora would it be illegal at all, or just a dick move?


Comments


[3 Points] Theeconomist1:

Laws are for us plebs. LE doesn't have to follow laws. LE would find a way so that it wouldn't sound illegal before a judge if they were operating a market. They could also argue that they aren't necessarily supplying anything to anyone - they are just facilitating a marketplace where said people go to sell their wares, which is necessary for them to catch the bad guys. And its a dick move too.


[2 Points] ShulginsCat:

  1. Operation Fast and Furious: The ATF sold thousands of firearms to Mexican cartels in order to arrest 34 (?!) drug and weapons traffickers: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/americas/operation-fast-and-furious-fast-facts/

  2. Operation Card Shop: The FBI took over and effectively ran a carding forum for two years, to arrest 27 people worldwide: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/27/carder_forum_fbi_sting/

The DEA and FBI are well-funded, equipped with the best technology, have impunity for just about everything.. When you're holding a hammer, everything starts looking a lot like nails.


[1 Points] trollin_with_da_homi:

Dick move. Think about how they have infiltrated various gangs, committed crimes, done drugs all to catch the proverbial big fish. I can certainly see how casting a wide net like operating a DNM site could catch them a ton of big fish. Especially when you consider that many don't seem to understand the importance of OPSEC


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] JesusChristalMeth:

The concept you're thinking of is "overzealous law enforcement" in the US, and at a certain degree it theoretically can violate the due process clause, but I'm not aware of any good precedent that held that law enforcement actually went that far. Besides, "if the police engage in illegal activity in concert with a defendant beyond the scope of their duties the remedy lies, not in freeing the equally culpable defendant, but in prosecuting the police under the applicable provisions of state or federal law." Hampton v. U.S., 425 U.S. 484, 490 (1976).