For example, in India, one of the most frequent listings is for generic medication, which mostly comes from the first vendor shown below. While Mega’s inflows declined by more than 50% year-over-year (YoY), Kraken DNM’s rose nearly 68% YoY. Kraken DNM, which billed itself as Hydra’s Market’s successor, received $737 million on-chain in 2024. 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.
Latest High-Profile Arrests
From June 11 to 13, 2025, law enforcement authorities in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United States executed a series of synchronized actions targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, top vendors, and core infrastructure. Approximately 300 officers were deployed to secure digital evidence, seize assets, and arrest key suspects. The takedown was led by German authorities, with Europol and Eurojust facilitating intelligence sharing, operational coordination, and legal cooperation across borders. Archetyp Market, which boasted more than 600,000 users, operated for more than five years and contained more than 17,000 listings for illicit substances, including cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines. Europol also said the market allowed the sale of fentanyl and “other highly potent synthetic opioids.”Authorities seized the site’s online infrastructure, which was hosted in the Netherlands, and arrested its 30-year-old German administrator in Barcelona, Spain. A moderator and six prominent vendors were arrested simultaneously in other countries, and officers seized assets worth about $9 million.
- A smart play in the operation involved using intelligence gathered from previous darknet marketplace shutdowns.
- The platform’s endurance, scale and reputation within the criminal community place it alongside now-defunct darknet markets such as Dream Market and Silk Road, both notorious for their role in facilitating online drug trafficking.
- Operation SpecTor builds on the successes of prior years’ operations and takedowns of marketplaces, which result in the seizure of darknet infrastructure providing investigators across the world with investigative leads and evidence.
- Joseph Vasquez pleaded guilty on April 15, 2024, and was sentenced on Aug. 8, 2024, to 10 years in prison.
- Incognito Market sold illegal narcotics and misbranded prescription medication, including, heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, methamphetamines, ketamine and alprazolam.
Coin Edition is an independent digital media company that focuses on news from the blockchain and crypto space. Adding another layer of pressure, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also slapped sanctions on Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, identified as the operator of the Nemesis marketplace. Most of the arrests were made in the U.S., which is in the grips of an overdose crisis.
German Authorities Shut Down Online Marketplace For Drugs, Data And Cybercrime Services
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. 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.
Operation RapTor Smashes Global Darknet Drug Rings, Nabs 270 Suspects In Major Fentanyl Sting
For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation. The market’s takedown came after years of effort from Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the statement said. The charges in the superseding indictment are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
German Police Take Down Kingdom Market Dark Web Marketplace
The video offered suggestions that multiple arrests were made at all levels of the Archetyp hierarchy, and although Europol’s official announcement only confirmed one was made – the 30-year-old German – the BKA said seven people were arrested in Sweden. The suspected admin of the operations owns property in Hanover and Bucharest too, all of which were searched by domestic law enforcement. “The investigation to bring to justice the administrators of and vendors on Nemesis Market continues,” a spokesperson for the U.S. German law enforcement hasn’t responded to Recorded Future News’ request for comment about whether the website’s administrators were arrested. 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.
Interpol Bags 1,209 Suspects, $97M In Cybercrime Operation Focused On Africa
- China-based precursor manufacturers mark the beginning of the synthetic drug supply chain.
- Archetyp Market, a site on the dark web that sold illegal drugs, has been shut down after police in Europe arrested its administrator.
- 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.
- Word of successful prosecutions tied to Operation RapTor is already coming in from multiple U.S. federal districts.
- 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.
At the time, German authorities arrested the site’s alleged operators and two of its most prolific vendors. Europol confirmed to WIRED today that it was also able to recover the Wall Street Market backend server, providing investigators with an invaluable trove of evidence. The arrests were part of an effort by federal authorities to address “the growing number of illicit vendors operating on the darknet providing large quantities of harmful substances to thousands of people across the United States,” according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors have accused the men of operating 10 virtual storefronts on 17 different dark web marketplaces from September 2018 through February, the department said in a statement. 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.
Police Seize Millions In Crypto, Cash And Drugs In Darknet Bust
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. With these stolen credentials, the suspects purchased ghost gun parts and tools from a variety of legitimate websites, which they used to build ghost guns with a 3D printer, and sell for cash. A Manhattan district attorney successfully used this evidence to bring charges against one of the suspects. China-based precursor manufacturers mark the beginning of the synthetic drug supply chain.
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.
Treasury International Capital (TIC) System
Testing revealed that these tablets were not oxycodone and were, in fact, fentanyl pills. The raid on Genesis followed a similar US-led enforcement actions in 2023 against other darknet hacker market places, including Hydra Market and Breach Forums. 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. 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.
UAPS: The Takedown Of A Fraud Shop Payment Processor And Its Impact On Ecosystem
They also sell PMK and BMK, which are precursors to MDMA and methamphetamine, respectively. On Abacus Market, the US, Canada, Germany, Australia, and the UK have the highest number of listings. In the US, there’s a large diversity in the types of products sold, including counterfeit pills. For example, in the screenshot below, an American vendor lists protonitazene powder, and advertises its uses as a counterfeit for oxycodone, also referred to as “M30” (i.e. 30 mg). As for online pharmacies, these have predominantly catered to wholesale and large retail customers in the last several years, and 2024 saw growth in wholesale purchases toward the end of last year.
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. Dubbed Operation RapTor, authorities say the coordinated strike dismantled darknet drug networks fueling the fentanyl epidemic, marking the largest seizure to date under an initiative known as J-CODE. A global law enforcement operation has resulted in the seizure of $200 million in cash and digital assets and the arrest of 270 individuals across 10 countries, the U.S.
Since its inception in 1992, the task force has been responsible for the seizure of approximately $600 million and more than 2100 arrests. Operation SpecTor was a collaborative initiative across JCODE members, including the Department of Justice, FBI, DEA, USPIS, HSI, IRS-CI, ATF, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations. This operation was aided by non-operational supporting participation from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and U.S. Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation SpecTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships. As large platforms face disruption from law enforcement action, dark web infighting, and an influx of users from Telegram, there’s a growing shift toward smaller, more specialized marketplaces. These new niche sites are focused on specific illicit goods, offering enhanced security and a more targeted environment for buyers and sellers.
