Policing the Dark Alleys of the Internet: The Takedown of AlphaBay and Hansa

On July 5, Thai police arrested a man in Bangkok named Alexandre Cazes, a 26-year-old Canadian, for running an expansive online criminal bazaar called AlphaBay. Previously only known to law enforcement by his online moniker DeSnake, Cazes reportedly made the mistake of using his personal Hotmail email address to communicate with users who had forgotten their login passwords, revealing his real identity to police. Cazes was arrested on behalf of U.S. authorities under charges relating to narcotics distribution, identity theft, money laundering, and other crimes. A week after his arrest, he was found dead in what was reported as a suicide, hanging in his cell at the Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau while awaiting extradition to the U.S.

At the time of his arrest, Thai police seized his open laptop that was already logged into the server hosting the AlphaBay website – giving authorities control over the site as well as access to a ledger of Cazes’ assets totaling some $23 million.