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The Drug Enforcement Administration is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad.
A dark net or darknet is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol. Two typical darknet types are social networks, and anonymity proxy networks such as Tor via an anonymized series of connections.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States, overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the major drug trafficking operations and tackle related crimes, such as money laundering, tax and weapon violations, and violent crime, and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.
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Tor, short for The Onion Router, is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication. It directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network, consisting of more than six thousand relays, to conceal a user's location and usage from anyone performing network surveillance or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it more difficult to trace a user's Internet activity. Tor's intended use is to protect the personal privacy of its users, as well as their freedom and ability to communicate confidentially through IP address anonymity using Tor exit nodes.
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The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets: overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user's location. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term deep web is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web.
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Evolution was a darknet market operating on the Tor network. The site was founded by an individual known as 'Verto' who also founded the now defunct Tor Carding Forum. Evolution was active between 14th January 2014 and mid March 2015.
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Grams is a discontinued search engine for Tor based darknet markets launched in April 2014, and closed in December 2017. The service allowed users to search multiple darknet markets for products like drugs and guns from a simple search interface, and also provided the capability for its users to hide their transactions through its bitcoin tumbler Helix.
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The Cole Memorandum was a United States Department of Justice memorandum issued August 29, 2013, by United States Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole during the presidency of Barack Obama. The memorandum, sent to all United States Attorneys, governed federal prosecution of offenses related to marijuana. The memo stated that given its limited resources, the Justice Department would not enforce federal marijuana prohibition in states that "legalized marijuana in some form and ... implemented strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to control the cultivation, distribution, sale, and possession of marijuana," except where a lack of federal enforcement would undermine federal priorities.
Carole Schwartz Rendon is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 2016 to 2017.
Uttam Anthony Singh Dhillon is an American attorney and law enforcement official. He served as Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration from July 2, 2018, to May 18, 2020. He is married to Janet Dhillon, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Operation DisrupTor was an international investigation targeting drug traffickers on the dark web. Coordinated by the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement, the operation was initiated and managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The operation also included assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement agencies.
Darknetlive is a news and information site covering darknet markets and other dark web activities.
References
- ↑ Grant, Julie (2018-01-29). "AG Jeff Sessions Visits Pittsburgh To Address Opioid Crisis". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ↑ Harris, Zach (2018-01-30). "Jeff Sessions Is Crafting a Task Force to Battle Opioid Sales on the Dark Net The Attorney General's plan to combat online crime comes days after a speech at a DEA graduation ceremony, where Sessions admonished "an erosion of public support for anti-drug law enforcement."". Merry Jane. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ↑ "How Sessions is Using the War on Drugs to Assault Anonymity". The Daily Sheeple. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ↑ Thompson, Iaian (2018-01-30). "I'll torpedo Tor weirdos, US AG storms: Feds have 'already infiltrated' darknet drug souks Sessions sets up task force for dopes' dope dope crack down". The Register. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
