A crackdown on the illegal Darknet marketplace “Monopoly Market” arrested 288 suspects, nine of them in Austria, who were involved in buying or selling drugs on the Darknet. The European police organization Europol announced this on Tuesday. More than 50.8 million euros in cash and virtual currency, 850 kilos of drugs and 117 firearms were seized.
Nine countries took part in Operation SpecTor. It took the form of separate actions in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland. The drugs seized included more than 500 pounds of amphetamine, 100 pounds of cocaine, 100 pounds of MDMA, and more than 20 pounds of LSD and ecstasy pills.
German researchers cracked the infrastructure
The starting point was data from the German authorities, who exposed the criminal infrastructure of the marketplace in December 2021. They served as the basis for hundreds of national studies. The sellers arrested during the police action against “Monopoly Market” were also active in other illegal markets. “As a result, 288 sellers and buyers involved in tens of thousands of sales of illegal goods were arrested in Europe, the US and Brazil,” Europol reported.
Nine arrests in Austria
Arrests were made in the United States (153), the United Kingdom (55), Germany (52), the Netherlands (10), Austria (9), France (5), Switzerland (2), Poland (1), and Brazil (1) created. “SpecTor” is already more successful than the previous operations “DisrupTor” (2020) with 179 and “Dark HunTor” (2021) with 150 arrested suspects. Law enforcement agencies have also been given access to the extensive buyer lists. “Thousands of customers around the world” must now expect to be prosecuted as well.
“Our coalition of law enforcement agencies across three continents proves that we all perform better when we work together,” said Europol Director Catherine De Bolle. “This operation sends a strong message to criminals on the dark web: International law enforcement has the resources and capability to identify you and hold you accountable for your illegal activities, even on the dark web.”
Source: Krone
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