Vancouver man implicated in U.S. dark web drug trafficking case
A Vancouver man is wanted in the U.S for allegedly selling methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs through the notorious darkweb exchange known as the Silk Road.
James Ellingson, 42, was arrested Oct. 29 in Vancouver on charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. narcotics laws, conspiracy to import narcotics and conspiracy to money launder between 2011 and 2013. Evidence gathered against Ellingson stemmed from the U.S. investigation into Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht, according to a recent B.C. Supreme Court bail ruling in the case.
Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten released Ellingson on bail earlier this month despite a U.S. request that he be held in custody. Ellingson, who has a criminal record on this side of the border, allegedly made $2 million using the dark web to sell his wares.
Ulbricht was arrested in October 2013, convicted in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison. After his arrest, the FBI seized various servers associated with Silk Road in Iceland, as well as backup servers in the U.S. The servers contained databases with Silk Road records showing various transactions, as well as private messages exchanged among Silk Road users, according to a U.S. affidavit quoted by DeWitt-Van Oosten in her Nov. 2 ruling.
The U.S. alleges Ellingson was using the online handle Marijuanaismymuse and was paid for his drug sales by Ulbricht, using Bitcoin.
Transactions for the Marijuanaismymuse account occurred between November 2011 and October 2013 and involved sales of meth, heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA and pot.
“U.S. authorities have gathered evidence that they say links James Ellingson to Marijuanaismymuse,” the B.C. judge said.
“Some of the drug proceeds sent to Marijuanaismymuse were subsequently traced to two Bitcoin-exchange accounts registered to Mr. Ellingson.”
The accounts were opened in May and August 2013.
“U.S. authorities obtained records from Google relating to Mr. Ellingson’s Gmail account. These records contained an email dated Sept. 23, 2013, with a username of Marijuanaismymuse and what appears to be a password to the Marijuanaismymuse Silk Road account,” the ruling said.
“The Gmail records also contained notations of drug weights, names and prices consistent with server data from the Silk Road.”