[Back to Silk Road seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/silk-road-seizure)

# Organizations and roles

October 2013, Darknet market
[Silk Road seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/silk-road-seizure)

Last reviewed August 21, 2026

The public record puts 4 organizations on this action. Operational lead: FBI. The table lists the role the cited record assigns each one, in the record's own wording where it gives any.

## Why this page names organizations only

Roles on this page describe the agencies that took part. Individuals named in the public record appear on the takedown entry itself, under People and accountability.

## Organizations and roles

| Emblem | Organization | Role | What the record says |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation), United States | Operational lead | Led the investigation, executed the server and hidden-service seizure, and arrested the founder. |
| | [United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/united-states-attorney-s-office-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york), United States | Prosecuting | Charged and prosecuted Ross Ulbricht. |
| | [Drug Enforcement Administration](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/drug-enforcement-administration), United States | Investigating | Participated in the narcotics investigation. |
| | [Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/internal-revenue-service-criminal-investigation), United States | Financial tracing | Conducted financial and cryptocurrency tracing. |

## Accountability

### Legal authority

US seizure and arrest warrants, Southern District of New York

### Oversight

The record assigns prosecuting or judicial roles to USAO-SDNY.

This page records organizational involvement as the cited sources state it. Where a role carries no description, the record gives none.

Last reviewed August 21, 2026