A big operation was carried out against the dark web, the invisible region of the internet, which is based only on certain networks, where many illegal activities are carried out. As a result of the operation, code-named ‘SpecTor’, carried out in partnership with Europol (European Police Service) and the US Department of Justice, 288 people suspected of drug dealing on the dark web were caught.
155 of those captured in the operation carried out in 9 countries, namely the USA, the UK, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil and Switzerland, were in the USA. Large amounts of money and drugs were also seized during the operation.
850 kilograms of drugs seized:
Europol announced that a total of 50.8 million euros, 850 kilograms of drugs and 117 weapons were seized in the SpecTor operation. In addition, it was shared that the arrested persons were actively trading drugs not only in a single illegal market, but also in different illegal markets.
So which market was this?
The target market in the operation was Monopoly Market. Drug trafficking has been carried out in the market that has been operating since 2019. German authorities managed to collapse the infrastructure of the site in 2021.
Those arrested will not be limited to just these 288 people:
Europol shared that they have also seized the names of buyers on the Monopoly Market. For this reason, he announced that “thousands” of people found to be operating on the site all over the world could be caught.
Continuing to focus on the illegal drug trade, Europol also crashed DarkMarket, which has 500,000 users, in January 2021, and caught more than 150 sellers.
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