The chart below shows fraud shops that performed well after the UAPS takedown, indicating that the customer migration was swift, and favored longstanding, trusted fraud shops like Vclub and Bankomat. Some countries have just one or a few vendors with a loyal customer base and a wider selection of goods. For example, in India, one of the most frequent listings is for generic medication, which mostly comes from the first vendor shown below.
The Shift Toward Smaller, More Niche Markets
For example, in November 2023, an undercover law enforcement agent received several tablets that purported to be oxycodone, which were purchased on Incognito Market. Testing on those tablets revealed that they were not authentic oxycodone at all and were, in fact, fentanyl pills. After the UAPS infrastructure takedown, we observed a swift decline in on-chain activity from UAPS counterparties, indicating that many fraud shops relied on this infrastructure to process customer payments. The chart below shows this counterparty decline, as well as a drop in crypto flows across the fraud shop ecosystem. These actions were part of a coordinated effort among US government agencies and foreign counterparts to combat Russian illicit finance.
Latest High-Profile Arrests
For the first time, FBI agents from all the bureau’s field offices also visited buyers to tell them about the overdose danger of pills sold online, which are often disguised to look like prescription drugs. “Operation RapTor shows that the dark web is not beyond the reach of law enforcement,” said Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, Edvardas Šileris. “Through close cooperation and intelligence sharing, officers across three continents identified and arrested suspects, sending a clear message to those who think they can hide in the shadows.
That revenue funded Incognito Market’s operations, including paying “employee” salaries and for computer servers. To facilitate these financial transactions, Incognito Market had its own “bank,” which allowed its users to deposit cryptocurrency on the site into their own accounts. After a narcotics transaction was completed, cryptocurrency from the buyer’s account was transferred to the seller’s account, less the 5% fee that Incognito collected. While China-based vendors are frequently referenced as the source of precursors for dangerous synthetic drugs, their involvement in machinery sales is also an important aspect of the drug supply chain. One China-based pill press manufacturer which advertises on clearnet business-to-business (B2B) websites has on-chain ties to drug vendors on Abacus Market. Along with its listings for large pill press machines, the vendor does not hide the sale of Oxycontin and Xanax TDP die kits, which are used to press counterfeit pills.
Those charged are Juan Jose Farias Alvarez (“El Abuelo); Alfonso Fernandez Magallon (“Poncho”); Luis Enrique… The mission points to the growing concern over how crypto is being leveraged to traffic opioids and launder profits. If convicted of all charges, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
Operation RapTor And Continued Disruption
It’s unclear how big a dent Operation Disruptor will make in the long run; the dark web drug market tends to bounce back, even after the high-profile collapses of marketplaces like the Silk Road and AlphaBay. But even if law enforcement is playing an eternal game of Whac-A-Mole, it’s at least gotten extremely proficient at whacking. The indictment alleges that the men sold cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA — also known as ecstasy — and ketamine in exchange for cryptocurrency, then used the U.S. Archetyp’s takedown might make headlines, but it won’t stop the trade of illicit drugs on the dark web. Despite the fact Archetyp had clearly raised the bar on security on the dark web, Operation Deep Sentinel—a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies in six countries supported by Europol and Eurojust—took down the market.
- Blacksprut, which rose to prominence with Mega in the wake of Hydra’s 2022 sanctions designation, law enforcement seizure, and subsequent collapse, came in third with 13.6% less revenue YoY.
- This “market cannibalization” has further destabilized the landscape, pushing vendors and buyers to seek refuge in smaller, more secure spaces.
- The U.S. Department of Justice’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team spearheaded this international initiative, teaming up closely with Europol and numerous law enforcement agencies throughout Europe, Asia, and South America.
- Opponents of strict dark web policing sometimes argue that such operations drive criminal activity to even more hidden or encrypted platforms, making detection harder.
- The German police’s largest bust came in April 2022, when its investigators disrupted the world’s largest darknet market, Hydra, which had 17,000,000 members and 19,000 registered sellers.
J-CODE’s most recent operation, called Sabotor, resulted in 61 arrests announced in March 2019. “These people don’t just operate on one market, they cover the full spectrum of the dark web,” says Europol’s Georges. A screenshot of the marketplace shared by the DOJ in the statement showed cocaine available for bulk purchase from JoyInc on Drughub, a dark web site. The BKA and ZIT coordinated with Dutch authorities during their investigation, specifically the Zeeland-West-Brabant Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Zeeland-West-Brabant Police. BKA has not mentioned if the server administrators or any of the platform’s core operators were identified or arrested during the action.
News Releases And Statements
Four Los Angeles County men were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of operating one of the dark web’s biggest drug distribution networks, according to the U.S. BKA’s announcement says investigations into Nemesis Market started in October 2022, involving German, Lithuanian, and American agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany (BKA) and the Frankfurt cybercrime combating unit (ZIT) conducted the action on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, with law enforcement taking down the website and confiscating approximately $100,000 in cash. Beyond drugs, there are now ever-growing examples of generative AI being used for sexual deepfakes across schools and even of public figures, including the recent case of NRL presenter Tiffany Salmond. This ability of dark web communities to thrive in disruptions reflects how dark web market users have become experts at adapting to risks, managing disruptions and rebuilding quickly.
Scale And Reach Of Archetyp Market
In December 2023, the BKA and ZIT seized another major darknet marketplace, the ‘Kingdom Market,’ and arrested one of the administrators in the United States. During the investigation, federal law enforcement seized cryptocurrency valued at $75 million at the time of the seizures and cash and precious metals. According to the charges, Pavey and Hamilton worked together to advertise and sell counterfeit U.S. currency on AlphaBay, a dark web marketplace for illicit goods shut down in 2017. In this capacity, Parsarad established Nemesis and held full control over the marketplace and its virtual currency wallets. Parsarad enriched himself from fees he charged users of Nemesis with every transaction, pocketing what OFAC estimates to be millions of dollars over the course of the marketplace’s existence.
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Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iran-based Behrouz Parsarad (Parsarad), the sole administrator of Nemesis, an online darknet marketplace, which was subject of an international law enforcement operation and was taken down in 2024. Prior to its takedown by law enforcement, narcotics traffickers and cybercriminals openly traded in illegal drugs and services on Nemesis, which was designed with built-in money laundering features. Nemesis had over 30,000 active users and 1,000 vendors and facilitated the sale of nearly $30 million worth of drugs around the world between 2021 and 2024, including to the United States.
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- The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results.
- Described by blockchain firm Elliptic as “the most prolific crypto-fueled black market ever seen online,” Haowang Guarantee trafficked in laundered USDT, fake IDs, and tools for industrialized fraud, often exploiting victims trapped in scam compounds.
- Operation Deep Sentinel is the latest international law enforcement collaboration against cybercrime, shutting down Archetyp – one of the largest dark web drug marketplaces.
- It appears law enforcement then sent a message through the Archetyp administrator’s messaging channel, confirming the takedown.
Officials announced they recovered over two metric tons of drugs, a haul that included a hefty 144 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced substances, alongside some 180 firearms. It seized 50.8 million euros ($53.4 million) in cash and virtual currencies, 850 kilograms of drugs, and 117 firearms were seized in a series of raids in several countries. The largest number of arrests — 153 — were made in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom with 55 and Germany with 52, according to the European Union law enforcement agency Europol, which coordinated the worldwide operation. On Oct. 11, 2023, law enforcement executed arrest warrants at the couple’s Las Vegas home and arrested them both. Officers recovered multiple pills in prescription bottles, packaging materials, gloves, black Ziploc bags and empty prescription pill bottles with the names of the defendants and other uncharged coconspirators.
The shutdown of Archetyp, a major dark web drug market, demonstrates that law enforcement takedowns have only short-term effects, as such markets quickly re-emerge and adapt. Persistent trade and resilient user communities limit the long-term impact of these interventions. Focusing solely on dark web markets may overlook broader digital harms occurring on mainstream platforms. THE HAGUE — Authorities in the U.S. and Europe arrested nearly 300 people, confiscated more than $53 million and seized a dark-web marketplace as part of an international crackdown on drug trafficking that officials say was the largest operation of its kind. Archetyp Market facilitated a reported minimum of 250 million euros (about $290 million) in drug transactions over five years, with over 600,000 users, 3,200 vendors, and 17,000 listings.
In 2024, fraud shop inflows declined by 50% YoY, a sharp downturn from the last three years. Deposits span from the hundreds to the tens of thousands of dollars, and the average deposit amount in 2024 was over $2,000. On-chain data indicates the vendor supplies these drugs to other Chainalysis-identified online pharmacies and DNM vendors, all while maintaining a far-reaching global customer base throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and South America. Since 2021, Abacus Market’s revenue has increased substantially, and in 2024, it more than doubled, growing by 183.2% YoY.
Treasury Sanctions Head Of Online Darknet Marketplace Tied To Fentanyl Sales
CACI’s DarkBlue Intelligence Suite is designed to address these exact challenges, offering comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the dark web’s most secure and decentralized spaces. With AI-enhanced threat detection, real-time dark web access through DarkPursuit, and detailed insights into evolving criminal networks, DarkBlue provides the intelligence needed to stay one step ahead in this rapidly changing environment. From at least April 2021 until May 2023, McDonald and others conspired to sell fentanyl and cocaine via multiple darknet marketplaces. HSI New York leads and directs all operational and administrative activities of the El Dorado Task Force (EDTF).
