Along with yesterday's arrest and Indictment of internet drug paraphernalia sellers (Operation Pipe Dreams), the Justice Department has seized the sellers' websites and redirected them to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The article with this information apparently appeared on Voice of America, but we can't locate it yet. If you find the link, please post it in the comments section. Here's what we are being told from a reliable source:

State and federal authorities recently conducted raids of various companies and individuals that sell "drug paraphernalia", such as pipes and related materials. Pipes, etc were seized along with their websites.

According to a Voice of America article, Mr. Ashcroft says they plan to redirect the seized websites to to the DEA website.

"Mr. Ashcroft says customers who want to visit some of their favorite drug paraphernalia websites are in for a big surprise in the days ahead. They will be automatically redirected to the website for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration."

In essence the DEA is going to usurp the freedom of speech and expression of the people who run those seized websites. This would be akin to the U.S. Dept of Justice redirecting the "aclu.org" website to the "usdoj.gov" website.

And then there are the serious privacy issues involved if the DEA redirects the seized websites, since they'll be logging all visitors, obtaining their IP address and other highly personal information.

Bottom line is this is a serious issue and if the DEA is able to do this, they could potentially redirect ANY website -remember that the owners of the websites seized have NOT been convicted of any crime."

This takes asset forfeiture to a new and very chilling level.

Update: Here is the VOA article, courtesy of Andy X at In the Land of the Blind.

Confirmation also from the Boston Globe.