The suspects are from the US, Ireland and Australia

Dec 21, 2013 08:41 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this year, authorities arrested Ross William Ulbricht, the man believed to be the mastermind behind Silk Road, the notorious underground marketplace. This week, three other individuals have been arrested and charged for their roles in running Silk Road.

The suspects are Andrew Michael Jones, Gary Davis and Peter Phillip Nash. Jones was arrested on Thursday in Charles City, Virginia. Davis was arrested in Ireland and Nash in Australia.

Jones and Davis are said to have worked as administrators on Silk Road, while Nash is believed to have been a primary moderator. They were all paid between $50,000 (€36,500) and $75,000 (€55,000) per year by Ulbricht for helping him run the TOR-based website.

They’ve each been charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. They could spend a lot of time in prison if found guilty.

Just before the US Department of Justice published a statement regarding the arrests, a person claiming to be the girlfriend of Jones (known on Silk Road as “Inigo”) revealed on Reddit that he was arrested, Wired reported.

In addition, a post published on the Silk Road forum allegedly by one of the arrested suspects, has revealed that authorities have a lot of information, including conversations between administrators and buyers, and even ones with Dread Pirate Roberts, the nickname used by Ulbricht. The post was later deleted.

Interestingly, Jones and Davis (also known as “Libertas”) are also believed to be moderators on Silk Road 2, the website that emerged after the shutdown of Silk Road.

Nash is said to have used online monikers such as “Samesamebutdifferent,” “Batman73,” “Symmetry,” and “Anonymousasshit.”