This is a long post but it's pertinent to how LE could have likely got involved here.
I've followed this entire thread waiting to see how things played out with Symbiotics. Now that he's in the shitter, I'm watching everyone's reactions, taking notes from those that have been in this game and dealt with similar situations and learning.
I've been observing everyone's reactions and trying to gauge the suggestions for tighter security here.
To understand LE, we have to think like LE. Big busts are not done by some jackass local police force and just like masterofron said, they don't want little fish to prosecute for personal AAS use (the schedule III substance rating on AAS is a fucking joke and even the big heads in LE know that).
If LE is after anyone, it's big fish. Those busts represent a notch on LE organizations belt and they probably don't really give a fuck about steroid use...it's not a godamn nationwide pandemic with news coverage.
There are surely state and federal departments whose jurisdiction is solely appointed to nailing AAS distributors and manufacturers.
...no specific number of posts, liked posts or other forms of vetting will stop dedicated LE on the federal level from bringing down bigger targets if they really want to...period.
Vetting and other methods are a great way to keep this forum clean of spammers/scammers, keep morons out, and stop this forum from becoming the shit show that everyone talks about concerning other forums...it will not stop "real" dedicated LE going after big fish.
This forum is not a pedophile site providing sources for material that people should be shot for producing or distributing. If the content here were as fucked up as that shot, no VPN/TOR/2fa/256bit encryption, etc would stop LE from eventually shutting it down and rounding more of us up.
Intelligent LE would work like this:
Plant several agents in a few AAS communities of various types for at least a few but probably many years. This is usually done by busting already long standing members of a few AAS communities and converting them into agents (informants) under threat of severe legal action, etc. This happens all the time in illegal drug operations and I have personally witnessed the whole process.
(1)Allow those agents some time to become trusted and credible members in the community if they are not already...which 90% of the time they would be.
(2)Let the agents develop strong bonds and relationships with non-agents in the community or continue to strengthen the bonds they have.
(3)Have agents eventually work together to establish credibility as teams so as to either be (a) difficult to reproach by other established members and/or (b) to be backed by other established members, when reproached in a dodgy situation that would destroy their credibility.
(4)Have the agents make purchases and interact with suppliers for long periods of time without making a bust so as to remain inconspicuous.
(5)Share information with other agents about supplier information.
(6)Share information with different LE agencies who bide their time to make a bust with charges that stick in court.
(7)LE agencies then use the gathered information about the communities, their members, and suppliers, to Infrequently and randomly bring down sources in a manner that does not implicate the agent or agents as the sources connected to the bust.
Rinse and repeat. Keep catching big fish and stay inconspicuous.
From an LE perspective, this nets WAY more sources and information than a one off bust and is well worth their time invested in accomplishing what they are really after without having to set up shop over and over again.
BIG LE is smart.
It is highly unlikely that they are some clowns creating new accounts constantly to subvert large operations on a prayer without extensive inside knowledge on how to bring bigger fish down. LE creating new accounts may be a way to help rope in their targets but they are NOT the primary way a functional task force would operate.
Symbiotics was the perfect fucking target!
He was not well known or established, did not have many or any ties to other operations, and had not been in the distribution game solo as far as we can tell.
Bringing him down quickly and swiftly does not raise flags for sister or parent operations that an agent (informant) could be tied to and it nets LE the possibility of bringing down his raws/equipment suppliers.
Sitting on a bust to net something bigger from Symbiotics would have been a waste of LE's time.
The guy had everything to loose...everything.
He sounded like an intelligent average Joe trying to make a fast buck.
If they nail him directly, they'll flip him in a heartbeat...he's not a criminal and didn't appear to operate in the criminal world. He wouldn't know how to handle getting nailed.
I don't buy that he was using his iPhone either...the guy was way to smart for that shit and way too much invested in his life and his operation not to play it safe. I also think he mentioned in a post in this thread that he had to wait to get home to use a dedicated computer to answer questions.
He could have gotten hacked, he could have gotten sloppy but it's my opinion that he got nailed by someone inside this forum and it wasn't a noob...just makes more sense for LE to use an established plant here. Think like "big LE"