Brief look at LE 2017 (brief but long and not at all comprehensive). I had to write it anyway.

All .GOV Links FYI

Brief overview of LE Developments 2017 Kind of interesting when you put it in chronological order (this is nowhere near comprehensive though)

Real quick with the latest: Justice Department Continues Aggressive Prosecutions of Transnational Criminal Organizations and Their Subsidiaries

The accompanying report, provided in accordance with Section 3 (g) of the Executive Order, provides information pertaining to the number of convictions in investigations involving transnational criminal organizations as reported by the Department of Justice, for the period beginning April 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2017. Download Transnational Criminal Organizations Convictions Report April-June 2017 Worth a gander

Back to Februrary now TL;DR1 An Important Court Opinion Holds Lawful Warrants Can Be Used to Obtain Evidence from U.S. Internet Service Providers When those Providers Store Evidence Outside the U.S. February 6, 2017 Courtesy of Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco

On Friday, a United States Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (PDF .GOV)>> issued an important opinion in a dispute between the United States and Google over whether Google must comply with warrants issued by United States judges. The matter involved two warrants to search Google accounts belonging to suspected criminals in the United States who communicated with others in the United States. Google refused to fully comply with the warrants, asserting that it could not be compelled to disclose data unless it knew the data was actually located in the United States. The Magistrate Judge ordered Google to comply with the search warrants, specifically finding that no seizure occurs outside the United States and that the search occurs in Pennsylvania...

...Google argued that search warrants issued in the United States can only compel Google to produce data stored in the United States. As Google has explained, Google stores individual data files in multiple data "shards," each separate shard being stored in separate locations around the world.... As a consequence, Google's argument would mean that data that happens to be outside the United States - even data that the government knows about and describes in a search warrant affidavit - is never accessible. Not with a warrant; not with a treaty request to another country; not with anything...

...The department has also been litigating this issue against Microsoft. In July 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in the (PDF .GOV)>> the "Microsoft Ireland" case,, dealt a harmful blow to the ability of U.S. law enforcement to investigate and prosecute serious crime and protect the American public. **The decision broke with almost two decades of settled understanding when it held that a U.S.-based company - in this case, Microsoft - can refuse to comply with a U.S. court-authorized disclosure warrant, issued upon a showing of probable cause, merely because the company chooses to store the electronic data sought by the warrant on its own overseas servers...*

...Friday's court opinion is an important step in the department's ongoing efforts to ensure that Internet service providers uphold their obligations to public safety by complying with lawful warrants...

This is more of a historical reference, but it's a speech Janet Reno gave in the year 2000 on the need to start streamlining Cybercrime enforcement efforts in the US. She covers almost every LE/Federal gov push we;ve seen in the years since, It's long. pretty interesting REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE JANET RENO ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL

I'm really curious who was being investigated in each of those cases and for what crime. It seems like "wow they do care" until it turns out the subpoenas are for Sandar Pichai and Bill Gates, respectively. or something

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release February 09, 2017 TL;DR2 Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking EXECUTIVE ORDER ENFORCING FEDERAL LAW WITH RESPECT TO TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS AND PREVENTING INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING

Transnational, Of Course Trump is a total Transphobe

Sec. 2. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to: (a) strengthen enforcement of Federal law in order to thwart transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations... (i) the illegal smuggling and trafficking of humans, drugs or other substances, wildlife, and weapons; (ii) corruption, cybercrime, fraud, financial crimes, and intellectual-property theft; or (iii) the illegal concealment or transfer of proceeds derived from such illicit activities... ... (j) within 120 days of the date of this order, submit to the President a report on transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including the extent of penetration of such organizations into the United States, and issue additional reports annually thereafter to describe the progress made in combating these criminal organizations, along with any recommended actions for dismantling them.

Hansa gets Busted in june

We all know this story;
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, July 20, 2017(Press Release Date) AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down 'Dark Net' Site Was Major Source of Fentanyl and Heroin, Linked to Overdose Deaths, and Used By Hundreds of Thousands of People to Buy and Sell Illegal Goods and Services Anonymously over the Internet Shed a tear

On July 5, Alexandre Cazes aka Alpha02 and Admin, 25, a Canadian citizen residing in Thailand, was arrested by Thai authorities on behalf of the United States for his role as the creator and administrator of AlphaBay. On July 12, Cazes apparently took his own life while in custody in Thailand. Cazes was charged in an indictment 1:17-CR-00144-LJO filed in the Eastern District of California on June

On July 19, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Alexandre Cazes and his wife's assets located throughout the world, including in Thailand, Cyprus, Lichtenstein, and Antigua & Barbuda. Cazes and his wife amassed numerous high value assets, including luxury vehicles, residences and a hotel in Thailand. Cazes also possessed millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, which has been seized by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

*"The so-called anonymity of the dark web is illusory," said Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg (truer each day, it seems) of the DEA. "We will find and prosecute drug traffickers who set up shop there, and this case is a great example of our commitment to doing exactly that. More to come." *

This operation to seize the AlphaBay site coincides with efforts by Dutch law enforcement to investigate and take down the Hansa Market, another prominent dark web market. Like AlphaBay, Hansa Market was used to facilitate the sale of illegal drugs, toxic chemicals, malware, counterfeit identification documents, and illegal services. The administrators of Hansa Market, along with its thousands of vendors and users, also attempted to mask their identities to avoid prosecution through the use of Tor and digital currency. Further information on the operation against the Hansa Market can be obtained from Dutch authorities. (Any of the Dutch shit translated, yet?)

You've probably seen these: Download alphabay-cazes_indictment_redacted.pdf Same link as above by the way. Indictements are more about charges than proving guilt, so nothing in depth. Seems like Feb 6th could be related.

Download alphabay-cazes_forfeiture_complaint.pdf

Download alphabay_seizure_page.pdf

Present Day (The latest again) Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, August 1, 2017 (The report was complete Jun 30, made public today) Justice Department Continues Aggressive Prosecutions of Transnational Criminal Organizations and Their Subsidiaries

Download Transnational Criminal Organizations Convictions Report April-June 2017 Worth a gander

Petty News to Fill the Void -

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, June 27, 2017 Former Agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration Pleads Guilty to Stealing Fraud Proceeds

A former special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) pleaded guilty today to stealing fraud proceeds that she had been assigned to recover on behalf of fraud victims, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Michael P. Tompkins of the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG)...

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, July 20, 2017 Former Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force Officer Pleads Guilty to Firearm and Conversion Charges

A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force officer pleaded guilty today to unlawfully possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and later conspiring to misappropriate money seized by the DEA during the execution of a search....

U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of New York FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Former New York City Police Officer Merlin Alston Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Drug Trafficking And Firearms Offenses

Joon Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Former New York City Police Officer MERLIN ALSTON, was sentenced this afternoon in Manhattan federal court to a prison term of 20 years for participating in a long-running conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine in the Bronx while he was an active-duty police officer, as well as for using firearms to protect members of that conspiracy. ALSTON was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, who presided over a two-week jury trial last year at which ALSTON was convicted on all counts

Tbf, you can't go much lower than engaging in the same activities you work every day to put people behind bars for. The the epitome of scum. A despicable show of human behavior. I don't consider myself a person with strong moral standards, but I have no idea how these pieces of shit live with themselves.

Countererrorism: want to add a few stories here but I feel like I've worn out my welcome. There's probably 2 poeple a month indicted or convicted for "Providing Material Support to ISIS." Let alone how awul ISIS, even if you were secretly rooting for ISIS, why would you ever risk helping them? God damn, if anyone every needed to rub one out.

Edit: I left out anything CP related because, from the outside looking in. Probably not the best sub to be opening that dialogue in.


Comments


[4 Points] mrmcepic69:

This post somehow made me hate our current government more.


[1 Points] Hi_Im_New_Here___:

"brief but long" eh?