Alleged Founder of Dark Web Marketplace AlphaBay Found Dead in Thai Jail

Earlier this month we reported that bitcoin worth over $4 million went missing along with the dark web marketplace AlphaBay. Now we know that, unlike many had suspected, it was not an exit scam. The sad news is that the site was shut down following an international manhunt for its operators that has already cost one person his life – so you can forget about getting your bitcoin (or drugs) back.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, criminal authorities in the US, Canada and Thailand coordinated action against the popular darknet site which resulted in its shutdown. The main goal of the action was for authorities to get their hands on Alexandre Cazes, who allegedly founded AlphaBay – he was indeed arrested by Thai police on July 5th.

However, the 26-year-old Canadian programmer didn’t last long enough in Thailand’s notoriously tough prison system to be extradited to the US as planned. Cazes was found dead in his cell on Wednesday after he supposedly committed suicide just hours before a deportation hearing. According to the Bangkok Post, an on the scene examination found “no clues that suggest he didn’t hang himself”.

He lived in Thailand for eight years and leaves behind a Thai wife.

The local police also impounded four Lamborghinis and three houses, worth about $12 million, that belonged to Cazes. To the people who wondered about the source of his wealth at such a young age, he reportedly used to say that he invested in Bitcoin early.