Lin was charged with a host of crimes, and by May, federal authorities in New York had arrested him. Historically, DNMs have been known for the illicit drug trade, but in recent years have differentiated themselves with unique service offerings. While 2024 was likely a record year for crypto crime revenue overall, darknet market (DNM) and fraud shop inflows fell, with DNMs receiving just over $2 billion in BTC on-chain, and fraud shops $225 million. A series of law enforcement takedowns in the last few years have shaped the 2024 drug and fraud ecosystems. The U.S. Department of Justice charged a 33-year-old citizen of Croatia and Serbia with allegedly operating a drug trafficking platform called Monopoly Market on the darknet. Germany led Operation Deep Sentinel, but authorities from other countries also assisted in the Europe-wide efforts, including the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the US.
Major Police Operation Takes Down Notorious Dark Web Marketplace Archetyp Market
Milomir Desnica is accused of launching and running Monopoly since late 2019, using the platform to facilitate the sale of various drugs including opioids, stimulants, psychedelics, and prescription medications. The scale of its operation puts it on a similar level to the dark web's previous marketplace monopolizers such as Dream and Silk Road. The marketplace had more than 600,000 users with a total transaction volume of at least €250 million ($289 million). In total, police seized 47 smartphones, 45 computers, as well as narcotics and other assets, which will be analyzed for further investigative leads. 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.
“These predators who peddled poison on the dark web might have thought they are untouchable — hiding behind screens, pushing fentanyl, fueling overdoses, and cashing in on misery. “By cowardly hiding online, these traffickers have wreaked havoc across our country and directly fueled the fentanyl crisis and gun violence impacting our American communities and neighborhoods. Parsarad was also indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Ohio on drug trafficking charges related to the illegal business he ran on the dark web.
Following the seizures and shutdowns of the AlphaBay and Hansa markets in July 2017 as part of Operation Bayonet, there was much speculation that Dream Market would become the predominant darknet marketplace. Before these dark web marketplaces were shutdown, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms. By tracing financial flows, analysing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground, authorities were able to deliver a decisive blow to one of the most prolific drug markets on the dark web. “With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web’s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world’s most dangerous substances. In parallel, measures were taken in Germany and Sweden against one moderator and six of the marketplace’s highest vendors, and assets worth EUR 7.8 million seized. Law enforcement authorities across Europe have dismantled ‘Archetyp Market’, the most enduring dark web marketplace, following a large-scale operation involving six countries, supported by Europol and Eurojust, according to a press release today.
From Silk Road To RapTor: The Evolution Of Darknet Markets
“Under the JCODE umbrella, law enforcement agencies across the globe have joined forces to take down criminals who use the darknet to buy and sell narcotics. “Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international law enforcement effort, spanning three continents, to disrupt drug trafficking on the dark web and represents the most funds seized and the highest number of arrests in any coordinated international action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. 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. In May, law enforcement arrested another 270 suspects following an international joint action known as 'Operation RapTor' that targeted dark web vendors and their customers from ten countries.
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It marketed itself as a black market bazaar and sold everything from marijuana to heroin, plus hacking tools and counterfeit IDs. The dark web is not as dark as you think, warns Europol law enforcement uses specialized techniques to unmask hidden transactions. For example, the FBI has noted that criminals on Tor routinely reuse usernames or expose device details, allowing investigators to trace them.
International
Unlike Western markets, Hydra was Russian language only and became the dominant hub for Eastern European and global cybercrime. By far the largest darknet market by volume was Hydra, launched in late 2015 in Russia. Shortly after, police in Germany and the U.S. charged the men with narcotics and money laundering. Like others, WSM sold tons of drugs, fake goods and hacking software.
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Desnica allegedly used at least two cryptocurrency exchange services to launder his illicit proceeds. Payments on the platform were made exclusively with Monero, a privacy-enhanced cryptocurrency the architecture of which makes tracing blockchain transactions much more of a pain for authorities. €7.8 million ($9 million) was seized from Archetyp's biggest vendor alone. The BKA also said 20 additional properties were searched, mainly targeting Archtetyp moderators and vendors. 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.
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Dark web marketplaces have come and gone in a long running cat and mouse game. Vendors now vet markets for trustworthiness, often requiring invites or deposits. Even Hydra’s 2022 fall led to smaller Russian language markets trying to fill the gap, some suspected ones being Abacus or Drughub.
These actions were part of a coordinated effort among US government agencies and foreign counterparts to combat Russian illicit finance. Fraud shops are services found mainly on the dark web that sell stolen data and personally identifiable information (PII), which cybercriminals use for scams, identity theft, and ransomware attacks. Interestingly, this vendor has also been a trusted supplier for OFAC-designated fentanyl traffickers Alex Adrianus Martinus Peijnenburg and Matthew Simon Grimm, having received close to $1.5 million in purchases from them.
So far, law enforcement have arrested 179 people and seized $6.5 million in crypto and cash, 500 kilograms of drugs and 63 firearms. The defendants allegedly sold drugs on darknet marketplaces in exchange for cryptocurrency under the monikers “NuveoDelux,” “Mrjohnson,” and “AllStateRx.” According to court documents and statements made in court, Srinivasan and Ta used the “redlightlabs” darknet account to advertise and sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and other illicit drugs. These leads allow U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to identify darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of coordinated, but separate, law enforcement investigations, reflected in the statistics announced today. A sprawling law enforcement crackdown, dubbed Operation RapTor, zeroed in on illicit fentanyl and opioid sales across online black markets, leading to the arrest of 270 individuals worldwide. 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.
- “It provided us with all the information which led to the identification of those arrested today,” says Europol press officer Claire Georges.
- Europol said police operations took place last week across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden to dismantle the dark web Archetyp Market.
- Further confounding efforts, these multiple markets are often scattered across different regions and jurisdictions, requiring significant international cooperation to drive operations.
- The U.S. Department of Justice charged a 33-year-old citizen of Croatia and Serbia with allegedly operating a drug trafficking platform called Monopoly Market on the darknet.
- Opponents of strict dark web policing sometimes argue that such operations drive criminal activity to even more hidden or encrypted platforms, making detection harder.
Archetyp Market, a site on the dark web that sold illegal drugs, has been shut down after police in Europe arrested its administrator. 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. When German police took down the dark web marketplace DarkMarket in January, they did more than shutter the largest underground online drug bazaar operating at that time. What remains to be seen is whether dark web drug buyers will simply find new suppliers, especially since Operation Disruptor targets individual vendors rather than entire marketplaces. The darknet market was a classic escrow marketplace (i.e. users deposited funds into Empire and, only then, were able to make purchases).
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- This announcement coincided with Operation SaboTor, a multinational effort targeting opioid vendors.
- 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.
- “The illicit movement of opioids poses a significant threat to public health and safety – whether by known transnational criminal gang members across international borders or anonymously through darknet spaces,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Director P.J. Lechleitner of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
- A 30-year-old German national was found in Barcelona, Spain, and arrested.
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. It was through this investigation that law enforcement identified Desnica as the operator of Monopoly Market. Earlier in May, Europol announced the arrest of 288 individuals connected to drug trafficking on Monopoly Market.
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Investigators also got leads from local police investigating overdose deaths, including a 19-year-old man in Colorado who loved learning languages and building his own computers, said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. Five defendants were arrested today on a 10-count federal superseding indictment alleging their participation in a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking organization (DTO) that used luxury private shipping companies to ship via… 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.
“Measures” were taken against one alleged moderator, and six people described as “the marketplace’s highest vendors”. Formerly, Dream Market had been considered the second-largest darknet marketplace, with AlphaBay being the largest and Hansa the third-largest. Archetyp’s takedown might make headlines, but it won’t stop the trade of illicit drugs on the dark web. 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. Dark web market users routinely face voluntary closures (the gradual retirement of a market), exit scams (sudden closures of markets where any money in escrow is taken), or even scheduled maintenance of these markets. Buyers use cryptocurrency and escrow systems (third-party payment systems which hold funds until the transaction is complete) to anonymously purchase illicit drugs.
The other was arrested in Ireland. 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. Everytown, an organization that works to prevent gun violence in America, calls ghost guns a “weapon of choice for violent criminals” and extremists. In September 2024, the US Secret Service’s Cyber Investigative Section, Netherlands Police, and the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) seized web domains and infrastructure linked to UAPS, PM2BTC, and Cryptex.
These leads allow U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to identify darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of coordinated, but separate, law enforcement investigations, resulting in the statistics announced today. The investigators identified the suspects (many behind thousands of sales on illicit online marketplaces) using intelligence collected following takedowns of multiple dark web markets, including Nemesis, Bohemia, Tor2Door, and Kingdom Market. Law enforcement authorities from six countries took down the Archetyp Market, an infamous darknet drug marketplace that has been operating since May 2020.
