Journalists Monic Néron and Simon Coutu have teamed up for the first time to create a documentary series for Radio-Canada on the mystery of Alexandre Cazes, alias Alpha_02. Until his death five years ago, this young Trifluvian was at the head of the largest transactional marketplace on the hidden web (dark web), Alpha Bay, a clandestine site where illicit substances and guns are sold.
On July 12, 2017, Alexandre Cazes was found dead in his cell in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was detained on the orders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), pending extradition to the United States. The suicide thesis was accepted, although the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear to this day.
For those around the 25-year-old young man from Trois-Rivières, the news fell like a ton of bricks: few people suspected that the computer prodigy was using his talents for criminal purposes.
Her relatives, including her mother, will be open to the public to shed light on this story Alpha_02 : The Mystery of Alexandre Cazeswhich is currently being filmed.
This is the first time her mother has spoken to the media. Talk to us RCMP, talk to us US authorities, prosecutors, IRS [l’agence du revenu fédérale américaine]. We are also going to Thailand, where we are in contact with the authoritiessummarizes Simon Coutu, who has been working on the file for five years.
A turnover of one billion dollars
Prior to his arrest, Alexandre Cazes led an ultra-luxurious lifestyle in Thailand, where he lived for four years. In addition to his fortune with cryptocurrencies, currencies he hopes will rise early, he also owns several expensive cars and property where he can launder his money.
At the time, the FBI claimed that AlphaBay was the largest banned online shopping marketplace in the world, surpassing even the vast Silk Road site, which was shut down by authorities in 2013. The platform reportedly served more than 200,000 shoppers and buyers and visited by 40,000 sellers.
Behind the looks of a consultant and a legitimate computer worker, [Alexandre Cazes] ran a global and multi-millionaire company whose turnover reached one billion according to authoritiesjournalist’s explanation of The Press Vincent Larouche, in 2017.
A complex personality
Through their investigation, Simon Coutu and Monic Néron hope to explain what led this young man from Trois-Rivières to become a major figure on the hidden web in just a few years.
What all the interviews confirm to us is that he was a very complex personality. He was clearly a computer genius, he was clearly someone who had trouble with fairer sex relationships. Then, I don’t think anyone suspected that he was in charge of AlphaBay, but he certainly wasn’t aloneexplains Simon Coutu, who has been working on the file for five years.
He is probably the largest dealer of drugs and illegal credit cards in the history of Quebec, if not Canada. Someone will say that [Cazes] just given the vehicle, the fact remains he is the creator of the site.
The series in four 60-minute episodes will be shown on Radio-Canada during the 2022-2023 season.
Source: Radio-Canada
