Cyber Crime
Operation SpecTor: Over 280 Traffickers Arrested In Drugs Dark Web Marketplace Crackdown
European and international law enforcement agencies have made a major bust on the dark web, resulting in the seizure of “Monopoly Market,” an illegal marketplace for drugs, and the arrest of 288 suspects in nine different countries.
This operation, codenamed SpecTor, was coordinated by Europol and involved separate complementary actions in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland.
The successful operation was based on intelligence packages compiled by Europol. These packages were created from a vast amount of evidence provided by German authorities, who successfully seized the marketplace’s criminal infrastructure in December 2021. The packages served as the basis for hundreds of national investigations, which led to the arrest of 288 vendors and buyers involved in tens of thousands of sales of illicit goods.
The seized drugs include over 258 kg of amphetamines, 43 kg of cocaine, 43 kg of MDMA, and over 10 kg of LSD and ecstasy pills. In addition, over EUR 50.8 million (USD 53.4 million) in cash and virtual currencies, and 117 firearms were also seized. The suspects were arrested in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Poland, and Brazil. Investigations to identify additional individuals behind dark web accounts are still ongoing.
In the run-up to this operation, German and U.S. authorities also shut down ‘Hydra,’ the highest-grossing dark web market, with an estimated revenue of EUR 1.23 billion, in April 2022. The Hydra takedown saw EUR 23 million in cryptocurrencies seized by German authorities.
Commenting on the operation, Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, said that “our coalition of law enforcement authorities across three continents proves that we all do better when we work together. This operation sends a strong message to criminals on the dark web: international law enforcement has the means and the ability to identify and hold you accountable for your illegal activities, even on the dark web.”
Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre facilitated the information exchange in the framework of the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) hosted at the Europol headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Europol also coordinated the international law enforcement action.
This successful operation demonstrates once more that international collaboration between police authorities is key for combatting crime on the dark web. The dark web remains a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies worldwide, and busts such as this show that concerted efforts can lead to significant success.
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