Germany Dismantles World’s Largest Illegal Market in ‘Darknet’

The Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BKA) today announced the dismantling and decoupling of the largest known black market within the so-called “Darknet”, the dark internet network in which illegal transactions involving, among other things, weapons or drugs are carried out. The so-called “Hydra Market”, a Russian platform that has been operating since 2015, has had some 17 million customers and more than 19,000 trading and merchant accounts. The BKA noted that “after extensive investigation” the server infrastructure intervened and “closed the market”.

The German agents emphasized that this market invoiced a turnover of 1,230 million euros in 2020 alone. Experts from the BKA and the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office dealing with the case emphasized that it is “the highest-turnover illegal market in the world”. The researchers explained that “Hydra Market” was mainly used to trade drugs, stolen data and false documentation, as well as criminal service companies, specific orders to certain criminals.

The BKA highlighted as significant a so-called “Bitcoin Bank Mixer” within the market through which financial transactions were conducted using cryptocurrencies in a covert manner, making criminal investigations by authorities around the world extremely difficult. Using their servers, the German agents also seized 543 bitcoins this Tuesday with a current market value of 23 million euros. On the platform’s website, the agents posted an announcement communicating its seizure.

The BKA pointed out that the investigations into the case started in 2021 and that the Central Bureau for Combating Internet Crime (SIT) within the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Office, as well as several US agencies, participated. Despite the seizure of the servers and the closure of the platform, the researchers currently do not know the identities of the administrators and administrators.

Source: La Verdad

Ida

I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.