The alleged administrators of the infamous Bohemia and Cannabia dark web marketplaces have been arrested after apparently shuttering the sites and trying to flee with their earnings. 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. ‘This operation led by the German authorities marks the end of a criminal service that enabled the anonymous trade in high volumes of illicit drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and synthetic opioids’, the statement said. The number of arrests and amount of money seized were the most for any international Justice Department-led drug trafficking operation, he said.
German and Swedish authorities also arrested one moderator and six of the marketplace’s top vendors, seizing assets worth €7.8 million. Monopoly Market has been on the dark web since 2019 and has since served as a hub where criminals can buy and sell drugs, according to CyberScoop. According to a newly filed superseding indictment, Thomas Pavey and Raheim Hamilton, owned and operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020, during which time they facilitated approximately four million transactions between vendors and buyers valued at more than $430 million. The indictment charges Pavey and Hamilton with conspiring to engage in drug trafficking, computer fraud, access device fraud, counterfeiting, and money laundering. To become an Incognito Market vendor, people were required to register with the site and pay an admission fee.
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Known for facilitating the sale of cocaine, MDMA and highly potent synthetic opioids, the platform had more than 600,000 users and processed an estimated €250 million in transactions. The defendants then allegedly shipped the drugs throughout the United States via the United States Postal Service. (The name is a pun on Tor, the anonymity browser that enables dark web access.) Last year’s Operation DisrupTor netted a similar number of arrests and double the drug seizures. DarkMarket is also not the only dark web marketplace to have its servers seized.
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Parsarad is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances in the Northern District of Ohio and elsewhere. In addition, Parsarad is also charged with money laundering conspiracy for both using proceeds to promote illegal drug dealing and for offering money laundering services through Nemesis Market by mixing cryptocurrencies used to pay for goods and services to obscure their origins. Nemesis users were not allowed to conduct transactions in official, government-backed currencies. Incognito, like other modern darknet platforms, operated entirely on cryptocurrency—primarily Bitcoin and Monero.
Arrested In Massive Global Dark Web Takedown
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have turned to the darknet than ever before to buy drugs, Deputy Attorney General Lisa. Empire Market, WallStreet Market, Cannazon Market, CGMC, Apollon, Dream, Berlusconi, Nightmare. According to analysis by TRM Labs’ blockchain intelligence team focused on darknet market ecosystems, Empire Market was one of the largest Western darknet markets in operation during the relevant period. During this period deposits to darknet markets dropped significantly and no new leader emerged as vendors and buyers tended to avoid darknet markers while the dust settled.
Incognito Market
The market’s takedown came after years of effort from Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Fill out the form to speak with our team about investigative professional services. The arrests were made across Europe, the U.S., and Brazil, and included 153 suspects in the U.S., 55 in the U.K., 52 in Germany, 10 in the Netherlands, nine in Austria, five in France, two in Switzerland, one in Poland, and one in Brazil.
Europol Shut Down Archetyp Market, A Major Dark Web Drug Marketplace, In A Global Operation With Arrests And Takedowns
“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. The site had attracted more than 600,000 users worldwide, raking in at least €250 million ($290 million) in transactions. “With over 17,000 listings, it is one of the few darknet markets that allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids, contributing to the growing threat posed by these substances in Europe and beyond,” Europol said. Just as Incognito built on the playbook of its predecessors, future markets will learn from RapTor. But with blockchain intelligence advancing and global partnerships strengthening, law enforcement is better positioned than ever to detect, disrupt, and dismantle these operations.
Popular Darknet Markets – All Dark Markets
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. Findings On the whole there isn’t a large disparity between men and women on the social networks represented here. An international law enforcement operation led to the arrest of one of the three administrators of the dual dark web market ‘Bohemia/Cannabia,’ known for hosting ads for drug sales and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. 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. The law enforcement operation took the marketplace’s infrastructure offline in the Netherlands and led to the arrest of a 30-year-old German national, identified as the administrator.
Dissecting The Strategy Behind The Takedown
His listings were found in one of the biggest and reliable darknet markets like Empire Market and Majestic Garden,” NCB Deputy Director. Three suspected operators of the online marketplace for illegal goods and services have been arrested silkkitie market in Germany, while some of the highest-. German police arrested the Australian operator of the “world’s largest” darknet marketplace and shut down the server. After all, they busted a drug racket with roots in the dark web in (till it was raided and shut down) were the prominent market places.
Popular Darknet Markets
Silk Road popularized the use of Bitcoin, anonymizing technologies like Tor, and vendor reputation systems. Police determined the sites carried out around 67,000 transactions each month, with record turnover of €12 million achieved in September 2023. Dutch police think the administrators personally made around €5 million from the operation before pulling the exit scam. While marketplaces pop up like weeds—the notorious AlphaBay was recently resurrected by DeSnake, one of its original administrators—skittish or incarcerated vendors may be harder to come by. Europol said the takedown comes after years of investigation into the platform’s ‘technical architecture’ and the individuals behind it, adding that its findings were achieved by analysing digital forensic evidence. The operation resulted in the seizure of 50.8 million euros ($53.4 million) — in cash and virtual currencies, nearly 1,900 pounds of drugs and 117 firearms in a series of raids in several countries.
- And previous seizures like those of Hansa and Wall Street Market are likely still paying dividends for investigators.
- Things had been looking quite positive for Oasis, as many people felt the platform was legitimate.
- Bei den Wohnungsdurchsuchungen der Tatverdächtigen wurden Bargeld in Höhe von über 550.
- But with blockchain intelligence advancing and global partnerships strengthening, law enforcement is better positioned than ever to detect, disrupt, and dismantle these operations.
In furtherance of Operation RapTOR and in their first action as a JCODE member agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) additionally sanctioned Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national, for his role as the founder and operator of Nemesis Market following seizure of the market. It is estimated that the administrators have made a profit of about 5 million Euros ($5.47M) from the operation of the dark web market. When the admins “exit scammed” and split the money members had deposited to the platform, the police traced the amounts and identified the administrators. They often sell across multiple markets or operate standalone storefronts via encrypted apps like Telegram and Signal.
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. They hailed Operation RapTor as a major leap forward in tackling sophisticated criminal outfits that try to hide their fentanyl and opioid sales under the veil of dark web anonymity. Word of successful prosecutions tied to Operation RapTor is already coming in from multiple U.S. federal districts. Down in California, two men were handed stiff prison sentences of 17 and 15 years for peddling fentanyl-laced pills to over 1,000 people through darknet sites. The agency, based in The Hague, built intelligence based on evidence from Germany, which it said seized the marketplace’s “criminal infrastructure” in December 2021.
Its alleged administrator, a 30-year-old German national who has not yet been named, was cuffed by officers at his apartment in Barcelona, and “measures were taken in Germany and Sweden against one moderator and six of the marketplace’s highest vendors,” officials stated. During the same operation, police officers in Europe, South America, Asia, and the United States also seized more than 2 tonnes of drugs (including amphetamines, cocaine, ketamine, opioids, and cannabis), over €184 million ($207 million) in cash and cryptocurrency, and over 180 firearms. 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. In contrast, “right” sources tend to emphasize law enforcement success and U.S.-European cooperation, highlighting the logistics of the operation rather than the social aftermath. The operation targeted Archetyp Market, a platform with over 600,000 users and transactions totaling at least 250 million euros, underscoring the scale and ongoing challenge of illicit drug sales facilitated by anonymizing technologies. Authorities from multiple countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States, worked together to investigate and take down a major online criminal marketplace, demonstrating the need for cross-border efforts to combat cyber-enabled crime.
These digital helpers usually operated anonymously and distributed worldwide – but during Operation “Deep Sentinel”, they too were unmasked. In total, law enforcement officers seized 47 smartphones, 45 computers, narcotics, and assets worth €7.8 million from all suspects during Operation Deep Sentinel. Opponents of strict dark web policing sometimes argue that such operations drive criminal activity to even more hidden or encrypted platforms, making detection harder. They may also raise privacy and surveillance concerns, warning that aggressive cyber policies risk collateral impacts on online freedom and legitimate users of anonymity technologies. Operation SpecTor spanned nine countries and brought down the illegal dark web marketplace Monopoly Market.
