Man Swallows USB Flash Drive Evidence 199
SlideRuleGuy writes "In a bold and bizarre attempt to destroy evidence seized during a federal raid, a New York City man grabbed a flash drive and swallowed the data storage device while in the custody of Secret Service agents. Records show Florin Necula ingested the Kingston flash drive shortly after his January 21 arrest outside a bank in Queens. A Kingston executive said it was unclear if stomach acid could damage one of their drives. 'As you might imagine, we have no actual experience with someone swallowing a USB.' I imagine that would be rather painful. But did he follow his mother's advice and chew thoroughly, first? Apparently not, as the drive was surgically recovered."
Re:Making copies shouldn't be a crime (Score:5, Informative)
The story said he was skimming, not counterfeiting.
Re:the drive was surgically recovered. (Score:3, Informative)
Yes. But after 4 days (RTFA), there would be legitimate medical reason to worry about whether it was going to make its own way along.
Re:the drive was surgically recovered. (Score:5, Informative)
FTFA:
When Necula was unable to pass the item after about four days, doctors--concerned that the drive was not compatible with the suspect's GI tract--concluded he "would be injured if they allowed the flash drive to remain inside of him," reported Borger. Necula eventually agreed to allow doctors at New York Downtown Hospital to remove the item, according to a source familiar with the incident.
Re:That does it (Score:3, Informative)
Don't worry, you get them cleaned...
There's basically a "don't ask, don't tell" agreement between law enforcement and recovery. I don't ask just where they got it and they don't wanna tell it anyway...
Re:Encryption? (Score:3, Informative)
There was a Slashdot article on Kingston a week or so ago covering this topic.
Re:Surgery? (Score:3, Informative)
RTFA? You do know this is /., right?
Re:Making copies shouldn't be a crime (Score:1, Informative)
Thank the gods there's nothing with a name similar to The Rederal Feserve that prints money (based on nothing) to 'bail-out' an economy (based on nothing).
Re:Making copies shouldn't be a crime (Score:3, Informative)
Don't be intentionally dense. It's theft, no way around it. Instead of stealing from you personally, the counterfeiter steals a marginal amount of value from everyone holding that currency by just a small amount. All objects have value, which is a combination of the effort that went into creating it, the demand for that object and the scarcity of that object.
Without a fixed or regulated amount of money in existence, it has no value. If I print $1 trillion in cash tomorrow and hand it out on the streets, suddenly your house and everything you own is worth less. You still have a house, I didn't take that from you. I just stole it's value.
Re:Rights violation? (Score:5, Informative)
REGIS: For $16,000, the question is, 'What right do they have to risk the life of a presumed innocent man with dangerous surgery?' Your choices are...
A. The Patriot Act
B. The Alien and Sedition Act
C. The Jack Bauer Act
D. The part where he agreed to the surgery.
CONTESTANT: Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Um. I'd like to use a lifeline.
REGIS: Alright! Which lifeline would you like to use?
CONTESTANT: I think I'm going to use my "Read The Fucking Article" lifeline, Regis.
REGIS: Alright! Computer, please print out a copy of the article for our contestant!
CONTESTANT: *reads* Regis, I'm going to have to go with 'D', "The part where he agreed to the surgery."
REGIS: Final answer?
CONTESTANT: Final answer.
Re:Making copies shouldn't be a crime (Score:2, Informative)
No. The value of their currency is reduced. Nothing was stolen. It’s just worth less than it was before.
1 a : to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully. d : to appropriate to oneself or beyond one's proper share. 3 a : to seize, gain, or win by trickery [merriam-webster.com]
I've pretty sure you just said value/worth was stolen.
Care to try again?
Re:Making copies shouldn't be a crime (Score:3, Informative)
But what's the point of counterfitting? It's so you can go spend money that you didn't really earn. The result? You end up with stuff and the other guy ends up losing stuff with nothing of comparable value to show for it. I do not get why that is not theft.
That IS theft.
My argument is with the claim that “Printing money steals from everyone else with the currency” by reducing the value of their money. Reducing the value of their money is not theft.
If you print ten million dollars in fake $20s and buy a mansion, you stole from the person who sold it to you. If the fake $20s are excellent forgeries and successfully make it undetected into the market, reducing the value of everyone’s dollar by 2 cents, you did not steal 2 cents from everyone’s dollar. You stole the mansion. Nothing more, nothing less. There were other harmful effects, but they were not “theft”.