No matter where criminals hide, we will find them, dismantle their operations, and bring them to justice. This operation was about protecting innocent people from predatory criminals who profit from violence, addiction, and fear. Our commitment is unwavering,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale, United States Postal Inspection Service. The data from this week’s seizures will be the basis for further investigations against sellers and users who used the platform, German authorities said.
47-year-old Rushan Lavar Reed and 28-year-old Celeste Nicole Reed were participating in a long-term trafficking conspiracy that illegally distributed ‘pharmacy grade, not homemade pressed pills,’ according to the U.S. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. On Monday, Europol announced it had dismantled Archetyp Market, which had been around since 2020, making it one of the “most enduring” dark web drug providers, the agency said. Agents also allegedly found large quantities of cash and suspected drugs while serving several search warrants, but the Justice Department declined to provide further details about those activities and seizures, saying the information was under seal. 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.
Administrator Arrested
One defendant in California led an organization that bought fentanyl in bulk, pressed it into pills with methamphetamine and sold millions of pills to thousands of people on the dark web, he said. “After major exchanges delisted XMR, we observed a significant increase in bitcoin inflows,” Jardine said in an interview with CoinDesk. The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results. And by focusing so heavily on these hidden platforms, authorities are neglecting the growing digital harms in the spaces we all use. As Nemesis’ sole administrator, Parsarad held full control over Nemesis and its cryptocurrency wallets.
The US Department of Justice announced the results of a darknet market bust. So far, law enforcement have arrested 179 people and seized $6.5 million in crypto and cash, 500 kilograms of drugs and 63 firearms. However, if we’re being honest, the majority of activity on darknet markets involves illegal or heavily regulated items.
US Imposes Sanctions On Powerful Mexican Cartel Linked To Drug Trafficking
“We collated the information and then we sent out what we call intelligence packages to all the concerned countries. Basically it’s information or documents where we say, look, we know this person in your country has done this, you may want to open an investigation.” Georges says also that there are more arrests to come. The United States saw 153 arrests as part of the international operation, followed by the United Kingdom, with 55, and Germany, with 52, according to the European Union law enforcement agency Europol, which coordinated it.
Dark Web Drug Market Busted By European And US Authorities
The operation, codenamed SpecTor, was done in collaboration with nine countries, including the US, UK, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, and Switzerland. While 155 of the arrests took place in the US, authorities seized $53.4 million in cash and digital currencies, 850kg (or 1,873 lbs) of drugs, and 117 firearms worldwide. Law enforcement agencies from around the globe arrested 288 people suspected of buying or selling drugs on the dark web.
- As major players tear each other apart, new, niche markets are carving out their own territories, often with a sharp focus on specific categories of illicit goods.
- First things first, always use strong and different passwords for each account you open.
- Fill out the form to speak with our team about investigative professional services.
- And by focusing so heavily on these hidden platforms, authorities are neglecting the growing digital harms in the spaces we all use.
- 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.
- They had logistics down—DeadDrops across cities, cash couriers, the works.
One Of The Dark Web’s Largest Drug-dealing Networks Was Run By Four LA County Men, Feds Allege
Although CEXs remain a stable destination in the DNM ecosystem, the pattern of sending funds to them shifted in 2024, as illustrated in the chart below. Last year, DNM vendors sent a significantly higher portion of their funds to DeFi than they did historically. This trend is notable since DNMs operate largely in BTC or privacy coins.
As we can see in the below Chainalysis Reactor graph, most of Parsarad’s transaction volume is with Nemesis. He also sent more than $12,000 to several other DNMs, such as ASAP Market, Incognito Market, and Next Generation. Between July 2022 and March 2024, Parsarad’s BTC wallets in today’s designation received more than $850,000, including three addresses nested at centralized exchanges that Parsarad used to cash out some of his proceeds. The total amount of cryptocurrency sent by Parsarad exceeds $1.6 million, meaning he nearly doubled the value of his BTC holdings and strongly suggesting that he took advantage of BTC’s recent price appreciation to increase the value of his BTC. Data seized in the action will be used in the ongoing investigations against platform sellers and users, potentially uncovering their identities and organizing arrests. 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.
Anything from planting malware and stealing sensitive files to hijacking email accounts or breaking into social media profiles. In many countries, strict laws limit who can legally buy, own, or carry firearms. So when someone like a private buyer or criminal group can’t pass the background checks or get the right permits, they usually turn to the dark web to sidestep the rules and get armed without drawing attention. The dark web is a hidden section of the internet that you cannot reach with common search engines like Bing or Google. The only way in is through the use of special software that renders all users anonymous and untraceable.
US Treasury Sanctions Iranian National For Operating Darknet Market Nemesis
Incognito, like other modern darknet platforms, operated entirely on cryptocurrency—primarily Bitcoin and Monero. 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. According to court records and the TRM Labs investigation, the end of Incognito was foreshadowed by chaos. Though the platform’s administrator later claimed the extortion threat was a “joke,” the damage had been done.
The Marketplace As An Arsenal
Therefore, as long as this dark part of the internet exists, these marketplaces will flourish and emerge. The market facilitates trades in stolen credit card data, hacked bank accounts, and services to facilitate the laundering of cryptocurrency. Historically, the darknet drug trade has been dominated by large, multi-purpose platforms like AlphaBay and DrugHub. However, a combination of law enforcement crackdowns, increasing instability from new users flooding the dark web from Telegram, and infighting among the larger markets has triggered a shift. Many of these big markets are now engaged in cyber warfare, with vendors and operators attacking each other to assert dominance, often leading to disruptions and shutdowns.
- Last December, a Russian court imposed a life sentence on Stanislav Moiseyev, Hydra Market’s suspected founder and operator, although the Moscow prosecutor’s office did not publicly tie the guilty verdict to Hydra.
- Authorities seized assets valued at 7.8 million euros, including cryptocurrency and luxury goods, and deployed around 300 officers across multiple countries during the operation.
- “The comprehensive data seized is now being analyzed and provides further investigative leads,” the agency said, suggesting law enforcement will try to identify users and vendors of the dark web marketplace.
- These days, it lists over 11,600 illegal items, including hard drugs, hacking tools, and all kinds of cybercrime services.
- Articles categorized as “left” provide more commentary on societal impacts, such as links between the marketplace and organized crime in Sweden, or focus on harm caused by synthetic opioids.
Common Scams And Fraudulent Activities On Darknet Markets
If for any reason, you decide to visit these hidden corners of the web, ensure you at least study and understand the common traps. Getting familiar with the tactics scammers use will go a long way in helping you protect your online data and assets. Once many users begin to rely on the site and store funds in escrow, the operators disappear, taking all the money with them and leaving their customers and clients with nothing.
Of note, the Iran-based Parsarad does not have any on-chain exposure to Iranian services, but does have significant direct exposure to DNMs and indirect exposure to mixers. On Dread, the reactions to the recent law enforcement activity were a mix of dismay and defiance. “Are there any trustworthy markets left?” one user wrote, complaining that they used the dark web markets as a source for anti-seizure drug Lyrica and now had no good source. “This is so fucked up man, we have the right to do whatever we want to our bodies.” Taken together, those operations represent the most far-reaching collection of law enforcement actions against the dark web’s economy in at least two years. “You’re seeing the evolution of a coordinated law enforcement effort,” the director of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre said.
The Top 10 Darknet Marketplaces Of 2025
While this market started in Canada in 2021, WeTheNorth now sells to both Canadian and international users. It’s a market for fake documents, hacking software, and financial fraud services. WeTheNorth has a strong community vibe, with an active forum where users interact and share updates. Not all of the arrests appear to trace directly or exclusively back to the DarkMarket takedown; court documents show that in many cases, suspicious packages provided an initial tipoff. And previous seizures like those of Hansa and Wall Street Market are likely still paying dividends for investigators. This also means that Operation Dark HunTor likely isn’t the final word on dark web arrests and that illicit marketplace vendors may have to proceed with a little more caution.
(He declined to share detailed numbers, which he says are part of a still-unpublished study.) “What happened in 2017 was very unique, that one-two punch,” Christin says. But despite those wins, a years-long war of attrition seems to be exactly the pattern that the dark web’s booms and busts now follow, argues Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Nicolas Christin, a longtime dark web researcher. In an economy where the demand—drug-addicted users—remains constant or growing, that’s only to be expected. Raj Shekhar Jha is a journalist for the Times of India with over a decade of experience in reporting on national security, terrorism, crime and prisons.
