Feds Join Mass Arrest of 150 People in Connection With Dark Net Drug Dealing

Authorities within the U.S. and Europe have arrested droves of individuals in connection to darkish internet drug peddling, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

The coordinated police operation, dubbed “Dark HunTor,” concerned a lot of legislation enforcement companies, together with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Europol, and numerous different U.S. entities, together with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Postal Service.

So far, “HunTor” has resulted within the arrest of 150 individuals worldwide, in addition to the seizure of some $31.6 million from each money and digital currencies (aka Bitcoin and different cryptos). Police say that they’ve additionally seized roughly 234 kilograms of narcotics, together with 200,000 opioid tablets, and numerous giant quantities of amphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA.

Of these taken into custody, 65 have been arrested within the U.S. throughout 14 states, officers mentioned Tuesday. Arrests have additionally taken place in seven completely different international locations in Europe.

Police say that that the investigation grew out of operations performed earlier this 12 months, with the takedown of DarkMarket—what was then the biggest darkish internet market on the earth. The seizure of DarkMarket’s infrastructure led to intelligence that helped police monitor down darknet operators, officers mentioned.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco claimed that the operation had taken almost a 12 months to finish and had resulted within the saving of “countless lives.”

“This 10-month massive international law enforcement operation spanned across three continents and involved dozens of U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to send one clear message to those hiding on the Darknet peddling illegal drugs: there is no dark internet. We can and we will shine a light,” mentioned Monaco. “Operation Dark HunTor prevented countless lives from being lost to this dangerous trade in illicit and counterfeit drugs.”

The U.S. has increasingly sought to make the most of worldwide partnerships as a way of combatting cybercrime. In June, the Justice Department introduced Operation Trojan Shield, an enormous investigation into world organized crime networks that utilized worldwide partnerships. Reuters additionally not too long ago reported that the FBI, in coordination with different international locations, had targeted and hacked the ransomware gang REvil, as a means of disabling the harmful cybercriminal group.