The United States Department of Justice announced the seizure of $1.6 million in cryptocurrencies under ‘Operation DisrupTor.’ Furthermore, law agencies, both in the US and Europe, have arrested 179 people that are allegedly involved with the Darknet drug dealing community.
Operation DisrupTor
Operation DisrupTor was a coordinated effort to disrupt opioid trafficking on the Darknet across five European nations, the US, and Canada.
The following crackdown resulted in the seizure of more than 1,000 pounds of drugs from an illegal supply chain of opioids that have plagued the US in recent years. Furthermore, authorities made 179 arrests in connection to the drug supply chain with two-thirds of the arrests taking place in the United States.
Authorities have also seized around $5 million in cash and $1.6 million in cryptocurrencies from drug traffickers during Operation DisrupTor.
FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that considering the spike in deaths due to opioid-related overdoses, the recent announcement is important and timely.
Darknet crackdown
The release by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) identified numerous darknet marketplaces including AlphaBay, Dream, WallStreet Market, Nightmare and Empire, among many others. However, the release did not mention the operators behind the accounts that dealt narcotics.
The operation was one of the largest attempts to combat criminal activity across the dark web. The operation lasted nine months and resulted in multiple federal prosecutions across different jurisdictions. These include Arden McCann, a Canadian resident who was charged with drug trafficking into the United States, as well as money laundering conspiracies.
