Death delivered in the mail: "A dark web of dangerous people"
The grief-stricken mother of a young Sydney boy, who died at home from a reported drug overdose, is calling on the government to investigate online drug sales, and the use of bitcoin currency.
Allana Skelly's son Daniel, 21, was reportedly found lying dead in his parent's bed on November 9 last year - it's believed several lines of cocaine were found in his room.
"I had never even seen him drunk, I never saw a single sign that he might be taking drugs," Ms Skelly told Fairfax.
She has since started an online petition calling for a national inquiry into "a virtual Wild West for narco-traffickers and other criminals."
"My son was just 21, and now he’s been taken from me," Ms Skelly wrote.
"He died from drugs and I know that I can’t bring him back, but if the same laws had been applied to bitcoin as applies to regular currency, it would be easier for the police to find the people who did this.
"The other parents I’ve talked to think it’s not happening to them, but I know it is."
Last month, US authorities charged three more people in connection with the operation of Silk Road, the online black market bazaar for drugs, hacker tools and other illicit goods.
US prosecutors said an indictment was unsealed in New York for the three, following the arrest of the alleged mastermind of Silk Road in October in San Francisco.
Officials said the individuals in the indictment were Peter Phillip Nash, 40, of Brisbane, Andrew Michael Jones, 24, a Virginia resident, and Gary Davis, 25, of Wicklow, Ireland.
The three faced charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and conspiracy for their alleged roles as moderators of Silk Road.
Officials in October arrested Ross William Ulbricht, who was said to be "Dread Pirate Roberts," the website's mastermind.
Ulbricht, who is awaiting trial in New York, has denied the charges and also claims he is not "Dread Pirate Roberts."
In November, a message appeared on the social media site Reddit claiming Silk Road had reopened weeks after it was shut down by the FBI. The message was signed "Dread Pirate Roberts."
Engineering student Daniel Skelly was found dead in his parent's bed on November 9. Photo: Supplied
The message said Silk Road had implemented "a complete security overhaul" to keep the marketplace out of the reach of authorities.
The site is accessible only through online encryption offered via a service known as Tor.
Federal agents announced on October 2 they had shut down the website, which used privacy-protecting Tor and Bitcoin digital currency to shield the identities of buyers and sellers.
Authorities said that from about January 2011, Ulbricht ran a marketplace that hawked heroin, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine, as well as hacker tools such as software for stealing passwords or logging keystrokes on people's machines.
Silk Road took in commissions ranging from eight to 15 percent of sales, raking in at least $80 million on more than $1.2 billion worth of transactions, the criminal complaint estimated.
Bharara said the investigation is ongoing. He said US officials have received cooperation from authorities in Ireland, Iceland, Australia and France.
Perth father hails drug site bust
The father of a Perth teenager who died after taking synthetic LSD said it was "sensational" knowing US authorities have shut the clandestine drug-dealing website.
Rod Bridge told The West Australian that shutting down Silk Road would not bring his son Preston back but he hoped it would save other lives.
"I didn't expect it to happen but I'm over the moon. It's another closure for us," he said.
His 16-year-old son died last year after falling from a hotel balcony after taking what's believed to have been a synthetic LSD, which a friend had bought from Silk Road.
Bridge campaigned to close the website since his son's died in strikingly similar circumstances to that of Sydney student Henry Kwan, 17, who jumped from a balcony after having a $10 synthetic drug last June.
Mr Bridge told The West Australian he hoped the FBI would now charge the man who allegedly created the website with murder over the deaths of his son and others linked to drugs bought from the site.
"He instigated the selling and buying of drugs because he was the mastermind behind the website," he claimed.
An inquest into Preston's death is expected to be held this year.
Preston Bridge's family: Rod, Vicki and Aimee. Photo: The West Australian
To sign Allana Skelly's petition visit change.org
