The news comes during a turbulent time for darknet markets with the most prominent sites closing down in recent months, either voluntarily or as a result of police activity. It is not clear which German authorities were behind the seizure, although Europol described it as happening alongside the seizure of the Hydra marketplace’s infrastructure. Unlike in the Hydra takedown, however, law enforcement did not replace Monopoly Market’s darknet site with a splash page. Archetyp Market facilitated a reported minimum of 250 million euros (about $290 million) in drug transactions over five years, with over 600,000 users, 3,200 vendors, and 17,000 listings. 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 arrests are connected to a 10-month investigation between federal law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europol in Europe.
The seizure of €7.8 million in assets also implies either access to private keys or direct confiscation of devices. In coordinated raids around the world, more than 200 searches were carried out and about 120 people were arrested, including 24 arrests in and around the British town of Grimsby, UK law enforcement officials said. Darknet Wiki is an independent online encyclopedia dedicated to raising awareness about psychoactive substances and dark markets across Europe. Our goal is to provide trustworthy information for the public, media, and policymakers.
- Europol announced on Tuesday that 288 suspects involved in drug trafficking on the darknet marketplace “Monopoly Market” have been arrested globally following an unannounced takedown in December 2021.
- 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.
- Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation Dark HunTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships.
- At the same time, experts are calling for more education about darknet dangers – especially for younger users who discover access to such markets through Telegram or forums.
Hydra: How German Police Dismantled Russian Darknet Site
In total, the operation led to the seizure of 47 smartphones, 45 computers, large quantities of drugs, and assets worth €7.8 million. The number of arrests and amount of money seized were the most for any international Justice Department-led drug trafficking operation, he said. Transactions are encrypted, anonymized, and hardly visible to investigative authorities. Combined with encrypted access via the TOR network, the darknet enables nearly invisible marketplaces for drugs, weapons, data, and much more.
Interpol Bags 1,209 Suspects, $97M In Cybercrime Operation Focused On Africa
Today, the Department of Justice, through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined Europol to announce the results of Operation Dark HunTor, a coordinated international effort on three continents to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet. The operation, which was conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, was a result of the continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation Dark HunTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation DisrupTor and the coordinated law enforcement takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then-largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet.
How Police Busted Shiny Flakes, Germany’s Biggest Online Drug Market
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. Europol said the operation seized more than €50.8 million ($53.4 million) in cash and virtual currencies, as well as 850kg of drugs — including over 258 kg of amphetamines, 43kg of cocaine, 43kg of MDMA and over 10 kg of LSD and ecstasy pills — alongside 117 firearms. Beyond arrests and seizures of servers, it’s important for governments to warn people about the dangers of buying illegal drugs online, said FBI Deputy Director Paul M. Abbate. After dropping out of a culinary apprenticeship, the then 19-year-old began to fully devote his time to running Shiny Flakes and ultimately built up one of the most lucrative online drug shops in Germany.
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
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. Europol, which is based in The Hague, built its intelligence on evidence from Germany, which seized the marketplace’s “criminal infrastructure” in December 2021, the agency said. For the first time, FBI agents from all of the bureau’s field offices visited buyers to tell them about the overdose danger of pills sold online, which are often disguised to look like prescription drugs. At the same time, experts are calling for more education about darknet dangers – especially for younger users who discover access to such markets through Telegram or forums. In addition to the administrator, so-called “moderators” are also in focus – they organized internal processes on the platform, mediated disputes between buyers and sellers, and checked content. These digital helpers usually operated anonymously and distributed worldwide – but during Operation “Deep Sentinel”, they too were unmasked.
Darknet Wiki — Europe’s Dark Market Encyclopedia
Operation Dark HunTor led to 65 arrests in the United States, one in Bulgaria, three in France, 47 in Germany, four in the Netherlands, 24 in the United Kingdom, four in Italy, and two in Switzerland. By eliminating Archetyp Market, authorities believe they’ve significantly disrupted the global supply of some of the most dangerous substances, underscoring the growing efficacy of coordinated cyber-policing efforts. 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 largest number of arrests were made in the U.S., which is in the grips of an overdose crisis. Synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, kill more Americans every year than died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
US: Maryland Confirms Cyber Incident Affecting State Transport Systems
For example, in November 2023, while operating in an undercover capacity on Incognito Market, a law enforcement agent purchased and received several tablets purported to be oxycodone. Testing revealed that these tablets were not oxycodone and were, in fact, fentanyl pills. Still, the data acquired from this operation will likely fuel years of follow-up actions and targeted arrests. The dark web is no longer an untouchable sanctuary, and even privacy-centric cryptocurrencies can’t fully shield operations from discovery. Europol said in a statement on Monday that between June 11 and 13, 300 officers were deployed to carry out a ‘series of coordinated actions’ across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden targeting the platform’s administrators, vendors and technical infrastructure.
- The darknet ecosystem is highly dynamic, with vendors and buyers quickly migrating to other platforms.
- People following the case have asked how the police were able to shut down the expansively-networked drug empire so quickly.
- Some dealers will send drugs or contraband concealed within DVD cases, the battery compartments of torches, or even the spines of books in an effort to conceal them.
- Europol said German authorities seized Monopoly Market’s infrastructure more than two years ago, allowing the agency to create intelligence packages that were shared with international partners across Europe as well as in the United States and Brazil.
- Expect another wave of takedowns targeting emerging platforms in the next 12 to 18 months.
Authorities took down Hansa Market on Thursday, in a dramatic surprise that sent shockwaves across illicit online markets dealing in everything from drugs and weapons to forged documents. The complaint affidavit identifies several cases that have been filed in the United States against WSM vendors. German prosecutors in the cities of Koblenz and Oldenburg said on Tuesday that they had shut down what was “probably the largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet” called DarkMarket and arrested the man believed to operate it near Germany’s border with Denmark. Everything the police needed for further investigations and for effortlessly shutting down the platform was laid out for them on a silver platter, from Cloudflare access to the login details for his servers at a Dutch company. Shortly after the seizure, the Shiny Flakes website displayed a banner advertising career opportunities with the police in Saxony. Hydra specialised in same-day ‘dead drop’ services, where drug dealers (vendors) hide packages in public places before informing customers of the pick-up location.
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. Police said they’d seized the Crimemarket domain address and are currently studying seized data, documents and evidence, which will be making some users of the marketplace somewhat nervous. The police said late last week that Crimemarket had over 180,000 registered users and could be accessed via both the dark web and freely via the publicly accessible surface web (“clearnet”). When Archetyp went fully offline in June 2025, it triggered the same recovery reflexes seen after past collapses. Within hours, vendors were resurfacing on forums, scrambling to reconnect with buyers, showing proof of their identities and reassuring business continued as usual. In parallel, many began migrating to alternative markets, initially Abacus and TorZon Market, which became early landing zones.
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. Srinivasan also used the encrypted messaging application Wickr to communicate with and sell drugs to customers. Srinivasan received virtual currency as payment for the drugs and then routed that virtual currency through cryptocurrency exchanges. “Operation RapTor shows that the dark web is not beyond the reach of law enforcement,” said Head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, Edvardas Šileris.
McDonald recruited and hired accomplices to help package and ship the narcotics they sold on the darknet. McDonald purchased bulk quantities of fentanyl and cocaine and then directed others to complete hundreds of drug sales involving large quantities of both fentanyl and cocaine. The longest-standing dark web drug market worth £200million has been dismantled following a years-long investigation with its alleged mastermind arrested in Barcelona. 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. In Europe, Germany is among the top three biggest markets for drugs, next to the UK and the Netherlands, and they have a lot of darknet markets operating in the country. People from all walks of life partake in recreational drugs, whether it be to relax or because they want to chase a high.
