The charges in the superseding indictment are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Today the Justice Department announced criminal charges against five high-ranking members of the United Cartels. Those charged are Juan Jose Farias Alvarez (“El Abuelo); Alfonso Fernandez Magallon (“Poncho”); Luis Enrique… The mission points to the growing concern over how crypto is being leveraged to traffic opioids and launder profits. If convicted of all charges, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. The defendants were arraigned Wednesday in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Operation RapTor And Continued Disruption
Operation RapTor was a global, coordinated effort by law enforcement in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia to disrupt fentanyl and opioid trafficking, as well as the sales of other illicit goods and services, on the darknet, or dark web. JCODE and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) continue to compile intelligence packages to identify entities of interest. 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. In furtherance of Operation RapTor and in its first action as a JCODE member agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) additionally sanctioned Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad for his role as the founder and operator of Nemesis Market following seizure of the market. 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.
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.
Arrested In Massive Global Dark Web Takedown
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. In years past, these organizations were more overt in their display of such products, openly advertising on mainstream B2B websites. Depending on the severity of the chemical, some manufacturers still follow this practice. While not all are pictured above, in total, we found 16 vendors either selling or sourcing drug material from Abacus and purchasing production supplies from this China-based vendor.
- Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
- With more than 17,000 product listings, the platform served as a hub for narcotics trafficking, including the sale of cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and particularly dangerous synthetic opioids such as fentanyl — making it one of the few major markets to openly permit such listings.
- In furtherance of Operation RapTor and in its first action as a JCODE member agency, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) additionally sanctioned Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad for his role as the founder and operator of Nemesis Market following seizure of the market.
- The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results.
- Those charged are Juan Jose Farias Alvarez (“El Abuelo); Alfonso Fernandez Magallon (“Poncho”); Luis Enrique…
- According to Europol, the resulting takedown took place between June 11 and 13, with the goal of “targeting the platform’s administrator, moderators, key vendors, and technical infrastructure” across the European continent.
A Court Ruling On Bug Bounties Just Made The Internet Less Safe
Many operators have since moved to accepting only Monero (XMR), a privacy coin with features designed to boost anonymity and reduce traceability. Nemesis Market also saw its demise in March, when German authorities seized its infrastructure, along with $102,000 in cryptocurrency. The operation, which took place between June 11 and 13, also targeted the platform’s moderators, top vendors and technical infrastructure, with coordinated raids conducted across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden, according to a statement by Europol. 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.
- It was through this investigation that law enforcement identified Desnica as the operator of Monopoly Market.
- “We collated the information and then we sent out what we call intelligence packages to all the concerned countries.
- International law enforcement agencies have shut down one of the longest-running and most prolific drug marketplaces on the dark web, known as Archetyp Market, and arrested its alleged administrator.
- He then sold the cryptocurrency to Serbia-based peer-to-peer traders in exchange for fiat currency — all in an effort to “clean” his earnings, prosecutors said.
- Prosecutors in Washington, DC, allege that David Brian Pate concealed thousands of OxyContin, Xanax, and morphine pills inside souvenir maracas.
- At the bottom, the police placed an animated spaceship reminiscent of a 1990s video game called Nemesis.
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 data from this week’s seizures will be the basis for further investigations against sellers and users who used the platform, German authorities said. The wares it offered included drugs, fraudulently obtained data and goods, and cybercrime services including ransomware, phishing and distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks.
International Police Just Made A Huge Dark Web Bust
On Monday, Europol announced it had dismantled Archetyp Market, which had been around since 2020, making it one of the “most enduring” dark web drug providers, the agency said. In the US, the arrests fell under the DOJ’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, which includes investigators from FBI and the United States Postal Service. J-CODE’s most recent operation, called Sabotor, resulted in 61 arrests announced in March 2019. “These people don’t just operate on one market, they cover the full spectrum of the dark web,” says Europol’s Georges.
“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.
After a narcotics transaction was completed, cryptocurrency from the buyer’s account was transferred to the seller’s account, less the 5% fee that Incognito collected. While China-based vendors are frequently referenced as the source of precursors for dangerous synthetic drugs, their involvement in machinery sales is also an important aspect of the drug supply chain. One China-based pill press manufacturer which advertises on clearnet business-to-business (B2B) websites has on-chain ties to drug vendors on Abacus Market. Along with its listings for large pill press machines, the vendor does not hide the sale of Oxycontin and Xanax TDP die kits, which are used to press counterfeit pills.
State AGs Sue 23andMe Over Auction, Say Don’t Sell Customer DNA
Arrested earlier this year, McCann allegedly shipped over 10 2kilograms of fentanyl and over 300,000 counterfeit Xanax pills every month. Federal prosecutors have charged two men with running a dark web marketplace that allowed customers to purchase counterfeit money and other illegal goods, including drugs and stolen credit card information, worth more than $430 million. Before these dark web marketplaces were shut down, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms. The darknet market was a classic escrow marketplace (i.e. users deposited funds into Empire and, only then, were able to make purchases). Empire quickly attracted new vendors and buyers and its reliability and features, coupled with low vendor bonds – that is, the cost of signing up as a vendor – a responsive moderator team, and the familiarity of the interface, turned it into a leader.
Dark Web’s Longest-standing Drug Market Seized In Multinational Effort
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. The EDTF is the premier money laundering task force in the nation and comprises more than 200 law enforcement personnel representing approximately 35 federal, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
The result of this fallout is a significant fragmentation of darknet marketplaces, with smaller, specialized sites emerging to fill the void left by the collapsing giants. As major players tear each other apart, new, niche markets are carving out their own territories, often with a sharp focus on specific categories of illicit goods. A smart play in the operation involved using intelligence gathered from previous darknet marketplace shutdowns. Data from dismantled sites like Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets gave authorities crucial leads, helping them identify and track down darknet vendors and their customers across the globe. The operation targeting the “Monopoly Market” is the latest major takedown of sales platforms for drugs and other illicit goods on the so-called dark web, a part of the internet hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through specialized anonymity-providing tools. Following the threads from the seized data, the two agencies apprehended the drug dealers.
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. In 2024, fraud shop inflows declined by 50% YoY, a sharp downturn from the last three years. Deposits span from the hundreds to the tens of thousands of dollars, and the average deposit amount in 2024 was over $2,000.
At the bottom, the police placed an animated spaceship reminiscent of a 1990s video game called Nemesis. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
