WebProNews

Some people deserve to get pinched and locked up for sheer stupidity; Social Darwinism would demand it. Boston police arrested a man for cocaine trafficking, setting up a bust after viewing an advertisement he posted on the Internet. He even included a phone number.

Officers called the number on the listing and arranged to meet 20-year-old Tyrone Burgo, who sold an undercover cop the cocaine later that day. He was arrested promptly.

The story, first reported by the Associated Press, does not mention where Burgo posted the advertisement, but some suspect that it was on a community directory-listing site like Craigslist.org. Though Craigslist.org and sites like it expressly forbid illegal activity, some postings are likely to slip through the cracks.

The day after Burgo was arrested, Boston.com reported that police in the Massachusetts town of Milford arrested five men for soliciting a prostitute through a Craigslist posting. The men consulted the site for hooker listings and made contact with a state trooper posing as a prostitute instead.

Burgo may have erred (besides posting online) first by not using a street-recognized codeword and second by providing a phone number. Prostitutes who use Craigslist and other directories often use euphemisms like "massage" or "escort."

Or, as found in a New York Craigslist directory, the codeword 420 is often used for marijuana. But few use their actual phone numbers.

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Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.