300 People Arrested In Dark Web Crackdown

International law enforcement authorities have just arrested 300 people linked to selling fentanyl on the Dark Web.

In case you are unfamiliar with the Dark Web it refers to “sites that are not indexed and only accessible via specialized web browsers such as Tor.”

After an 18-month investigation, international authorities were able to arrest 300 people who have been allegedly selling fentanyl and other opioids via the Dark Web.

Authorities confiscated $53 million dollars from suspected drug proceeds and seized over 2,000 lbs. of drugs.

Nearly 300 Arrested In US-Europe Dark Web Drug Busthttps://t.co/oadVYTHM3w pic.twitter.com/NFRBJ2v3yL

— Channels Television (@channelstv) May 2, 2023

The Wall Street Journal broke the story:

International authorities have shut down an online marketplace and arrested nearly 300 people who allegedly used it and other parts of the so-called dark web to buy and sell fentanyl and other dangerous opioids, in a sweep officials said underscores how hard it is to stem the tide of drug trafficking in the internet’s hidden corners.

The operation went on for more than 18 months and spanned three continents, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Law-enforcement agencies also seized more than $53 million in cash and virtual currencies, along with guns and nearly 2,000 pounds of drugs.

A focus of the effort was the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. The drug’s inexpensive, easy-to-replicate formula has boosted its appeal among criminal networks, fueling a U.S. drug-overdose crisis that claimed a record 106,700 lives in the U.S. in 2021.

The bust was the latest of its kind by U.S. and allied law-enforcement agencies, which have for several years sought, with limited success, to shut down darknet forums to curb the rash of drug trafficking, ransomware attacks and other criminal activity.

🚨 Nearly 300 arrested in US-Europe dark web drug bust https://t.co/hQbjvjhR4a

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 2, 2023

Per AP:

Authorities in the U.S. and Europe arrested nearly 300 people, confiscated over $53 million, and seized a dark web marketplace as part of an international crack down on drug trafficking that officials say was the largest operation of its kind.

The worldwide 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.

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.

288 people were arrested and more than 850 kilograms of drugs were seized under the "largest ever operation targeting the trafficking of fentanyl and opioids on the dark web," the DOJ says. https://t.co/Z01K1VomnJ

— ABC News (@ABC) May 2, 2023