Darknet vendor accounts were identified and attributed to real individuals selling illicit goods on Dark Web market sites such as AlphaBay. Deep sea market, or simply dark web marketplaces, have been a new phenomenon on history and arrests, financial records and assets, and more. The October 1 closing of a popular darknet marketplace leaves a big hole international dark web takedown that resulted in 150 arrests.
Iranian National Indicted For Operating Online Marketplace Offering Fentanyl And Money Laundering Services
In the U.S., crucial support came from the DEA, FBI, IRS-CI, HSI, USPIS, and the FDA OCI. On the international front, Europol and national police forces across ten countries were vital to the effort. 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. Officials are calling Operation RapTor the most successful JCODE effort yet, both in terms of the sheer amount of contraband seized and the number of suspects apprehended.
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As Monaco noted Tuesday, the dark web drug racket was already a billion-dollar industry before the pandemic drove it to new heights. The demand hasn’t gone away, and suppliers will certainly try, at least, to meet it. The Dutch national police’s Cyber Enabled Crime Team was involved in the operation, code-named SpecTor.
Broad International Coalition Backs Massive Darknet Disruption
Buyers and sellers used wallets controlled either directly or through third-party mixers and exchanges. While Monero obscures transaction details, Bitcoin’s traceable blockchain provided law enforcement with critical leads, particularly at the point of off-ramp—when vendors converted crypto into fiat or moved assets through centralized exchanges. In coordinated raids around the world, more than 200 searches were carried out and about 120 people were arrested, including 24 arrests in and around the British town of Grimsby, UK law enforcement officials said. From June 11 to 13, the agency said, a series of coordinated law enforcement actions targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, key vendors and technical infrastructure took place across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden. The takedown followed years of investigation into the platform’s infrastructure and operators. Europol and Eurojust played key roles in coordinating efforts and sharing intelligence, leading to a major blow against one of the most active dark web drug markets.
Operation Deep Sentinel: International Cooperation
According to Europol, this kind of cross-border cooperation has proven to be one of the most effective tools in targeting online criminal infrastructure. As more dark web vendors and buyers rely on anonymizing tools and cryptocurrencies, investigators are adjusting their methods, using advanced analytics and joint operations to keep pace. HSI is a worldwide law enforcement leader in Darknet and other cyber-related criminal investigations. The DHS Cyber Crimes Center (C3) combats cybercrime, online child sexual exploitation, and criminal exploitation of the internet with state-of-the-art forensic technology. The Center investigates large-scale cybercrime threats and provides expertise on cybercrime investigations to the field. It also uses global law enforcement networks, like Europol, to combat cybercrime threats.
- Over its five years of activity, the marketplace amassed over 612,000 users with a total transaction volume of over €250 million (approximately $289 million) in Monero cryptocurrency transactions.
- There’s little doubt that law enforcement agencies worldwide have got hold of cybercriminal marketplaces, and their business has almost gone defunct.
- The Register asked the authorities involved for more details on these measures, and they clarified this meant arrests only.
- The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Cybercrime Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust provided significant assistance.
- THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Authorities in the U.S. and Europe arrested nearly 300 people, confiscated over $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.
Dutch Police Arrest Admin Of ‘Bohemia/Cannabia’ Dark Web Market
The operators of Bohemia and Cannabia apparently became aware of the Politie probe, which disrupted their operations, so in 2023 they allegedly pulled an “exit scam” that saw them close the services and make off with the operations’ funds. In addition to Wednesday’s arrests, agents served multiple federal search warrants and found evidence to include large amounts of cash, distribution amounts of suspected drugs. An example of vendor JoyInc on the Drughub marketplace selling ketamine, MDMA, and bulk options of cocaine on September 4, 2024, is depicted below. The defendants fulfilled drug orders through the various vendor accounts by packaging the drugs into parcels and by delivering those parcels to post offices and mailboxes in Los Angeles County and elsewhere. Europol, which is based in The Hague, built its intelligence on evidence from Germany, which seized the marketplace’s “criminal infrastructure” in December 2021, the agency said.
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The seizure and arrests announced on 8 November came as the are linked to ransomware, darknet markets and other high-risk exchanges. In May 2019, international law enforcement agencies announced the shutdown of the Wall Street Market top darknet markets and the Valhalla Marketplace, two of the. The arrests top darknet markets 2021 amid the takedown of Wall Street Market helped detectives identify additional dark-web traffickers spread across Europe and the darknet market arrests.
The digital drug bazaar had evolved into one of the dark web’s most prominent hubs, boasting over 612,000 users and generating more than €250 million (nearly \$289 million) in illegal cryptocurrency transactions. Known for distributing a vast array of narcotics, including cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamines, and lethal opioids like fentanyl, Archetyp Market served as a massive pipeline for illegal substances across the globe. Building on the successes of prior years’ operations, Operation RapTOR furthered global efforts to dismantle darknet marketplaces, resulting in the seizure of darknet infrastructure from Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets.
Credible reporting from the referenced agencies, in addition to contributions from ATF; Army CID; CBP; Department of Treasury’s FinCEN and Office of Foreign Assets Control; and NCIS enabled domestic law enforcement actions in support of Operation RapTOR. Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships. Be sure to enjoy any of our award-winning Sparks, submarine slot machine up to a maximum of 5 times. No relationship is created with you, nor any duty of care assumed to you, when you use this blog.
Operation RapTor’s Global Sweep: Coordinated Raids Hit Drug Networks
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- State, local, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation RapTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships, as well as the multi-agency Special Operations Division.
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Many of these users can be connected back to ransomware groups, suggesting this increase in demand can, in large darknet market arrests part, be attributed to them. If you want to know extra info about value plans, contact info then you also can explore given onion link. Icarus Market is the perfect fit for this Darknet Market list 2020, simply because it was launched exactly in April 2020. It is claimed that Samsara is run by a former dream market staff member although this claim couldn’t be verified by us. You can make the transaction more anonymous with cryptocurrencies and providing as few ties to your identity as possible. Below we introduce you to eight of the most popular currently active darknet marketplaces and help you with your selection.
Dean, a student at the University of Cambridge, started dealing in his second year and supplies himself from the Dark Web. Listings included offerings of prescription medication that was advertised as being authentic but was not. 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. Incognito Market was designed to foster seamless narcotics transactions across the internet and across the world and incorporated many features of legitimate e-commerce sites, such as branding, advertising and customer service. Upon visiting the site, users were met by a splash page and graphic interface, which is pictured below.
“We have very creative people who are themselves very innovative within the law and using a variety of tools to catch people who think they can hide in the dark net,” Wray said at Tuesday’s press conference. Unfortunately, the Dark Web remains a cesspool of illegal activity, often intertwined with cybercrime. The FBI Cleveland Field Office is investigating the case with assistance from the DEA and IRS-CI in Chicago.
