{"id":131259,"date":"2021-10-26T19:58:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T02:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131259"},"modified":"2021-10-26T19:58:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T02:58:51","slug":"operation-targeting-opioid-traffickers-on-the-darknet-results-in-150-arrests-worldwide-and-the-seizure-of-weapons-drugs-and-over-31-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131259","title":{"rendered":"Operation Targeting Opioid Traffickers on the Darknet Results in 150 Arrests Worldwide and the Seizure of Weapons, Drugs, and over $31 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, DC….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\u2019s Operation DisrupTor<\/a>\u00a0and the coordinated law enforcement\u00a0takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket<\/a>, the world\u2019s then-largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet. At the time, German authorities arrested the marketplace\u2019s alleged operator and seized the site\u2019s infrastructure, providing investigators across the world with a trove of evidence. Europol\u2019s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and JCODE have since been compiling intelligence packages to identify key targets.<\/p>\n

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Following the DarkMarket takedown in January 2021, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies identified Darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of complementary, but separate, law enforcement investigations. Operation Dark HunTor actions have resulted in the arrest of 150 alleged Darknet drug traffickers and other criminals who engaged in tens of thousands of sales of illicit goods and services across Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Prior to, but in support of Operation Dark HunTor, Italian authorities also shut down the\u00a0DeepSea\u00a0and Berlusconi dark web marketplaces which boasted\u00a0over 40,000 advertisements of illegal products.\u00a0Four alleged\u00a0administrators were arrested,\u00a0and\u00a0\u20ac3.6 million in cryptocurrencies\u00a0were seized in coordinated U.S.-Italian operations.<\/p>\n

Operation Dark HunTor resulted in the seizure of over $31.6 million in both cash and virtual currencies; approximately 234 kilograms (kg) of drugs worldwide including 152.1 kg of amphetamine, 21.6 kg of cocaine, 26.9 kg of opioids, 32.5 kg of MDMA, in addition to more than 200,000 ecstasy, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methamphetamine pills, and counterfeit medicine ; and 45 firearms. Darknet vendor accounts were also identified and attributed to real individuals selling illicit goods on active marketplaces, as well as inactive Darknet marketplaces such as Dream, WallStreet, White House, DeepSea, and Dark Market.<\/p>\n

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. A number of investigations are still ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 10-month massive international law enforcement operation spanned across three continents and involved dozens of U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to send one clear message to those hiding on the Darknet peddling illegal drugs: there is no dark internet. We can and we will shine a light,\u201d said Deputy Attorney General Monaco. \u201cOperation Dark HunTor prevented countless lives from being lost to this dangerous trade in illicit and counterfeit drugs, because one pill can kill.\u00a0The Department of Justice with our international partners will continue to crack down on lethal counterfeit opioids purchased on the Darknet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe men and women of the department\u2019s Criminal Division, in close collaboration with our team of interagency and international partners, stand ready to leverage all our resources to protect our communities through the pursuit of those who profit from addiction, under the false belief that they are anonymous on the Darknet,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr of the Justice Department\u2019s Criminal Division.\u00a0\u201cOnly through a whole of government and, in this case, global approach to tackling cyber-enabled drug trafficking can we hope to achieve the significant results illustrated in Operation Dark HunTor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI\u202fcontinues to identify and bring to justice drug dealers who believe they can hide their illegal activity through the Darknet,\u201d said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. \u201cCriminal darknet markets exist so drug dealers can profit at the expense of others\u2019 safety. The FBI is committed to working with our\u202fJCODE and\u202fEUROPOL\u202flaw enforcement\u202fpartners to disrupt those markets and the\u202fborderless, worldwide trade in illicit drugs they enable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we face new and increasingly dangerous threats as drug traffickers expand into the digital world and use the Darknet to sell dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine,\u201d said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). \u201cThese drug traffickers are flooding the United States with deadly, fake pills, driving the U.S. overdose crisis, spurring violence, and threatening the safety and health of American communities. DEA\u2019s message today is clear: criminal drug networks operating on the Darknet, trying to hide from law enforcement, can no longer hide. DEA, the U.S. interagency, and our valued international partners, are committed to dismantling drug networks wherever they are, including on the Darknet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIllicit darkweb marketplaces represent a significant threat to public health, economic, and national security,\u201d said Acting Director Tae Johnson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). \u201cBy working collaboratively and sharing intelligence across local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and its partners are disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations responsible for introducing dangerous narcotics and other contraband into our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dark web has become an underground facilitator of illegal commerce,\u201d said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). \u201cCriminals use the dark web to sell and ship narcotics and other dangerous goods around the world, often relying on the postal system and private carriers to deliver these illegal products. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to finding and stopping these drug traffickers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Darknet no longer provides a concealing cloak for criminals to operate,\u201d said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Jim Lee. \u201cThe expertise of our agents and law enforcement partners helped uncover significant quantities of narcotics and money \u2014 both cash and virtual currency \u2014 derived from illicit means.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of operations such as the one today is to put criminals operating on the dark web on notice: the law enforcement community has the means and global partnerships to unmask them and hold them accountable for their illegal activities, even in areas of the dark web,\u201d said Europol\u2019s Deputy Executive Director of Operations Jean-Philippe Lecouffe.<\/p>\n

The extensive operation, which lasted 10 months, resulted in dozens of federal operations and prosecutions, including:<\/p>\n