In Ohio, members of a group known as PillCosby were charged with mailing out over a million pills laced with fentanyl. Prosecutors in Washington, DC, allege that David Brian Pate concealed thousands of OxyContin, Xanax, and morphine pills inside souvenir maracas. A pharmacist in Nebraska allegedly planned to firebomb a local competitor after stealing their opiate supply, in service of what officials say was his booming narcotics trafficking business. According to court records and the TRM Labs investigation, the end of Incognito was foreshadowed by chaos.
QUICK LINKS
“With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web’s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world’s most dangerous substances,” said Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol. The dismantling of Archetyp Market, one of the longest-running and largest dark web drug marketplaces, highlights international law enforcement’s coordinated efforts to combat the global illegal drug trade and address the distribution of dangerous substances such as fentanyl. Over its five years in operation, Archetyp Market recorded over 612,000 users and facilitated €250 million worth of illicit sales. But the platform’s downfall began with a coordinated effort between police forces, cybercrime experts, and judicial authorities. The Netherlands led the technical takedown of the market’s servers, while a 30-year-old German national, believed to be the site’s primary administrator, was captured in Barcelona, Spain.
LockBit Infrastructure Disrupted By Global Law Enforcers
The DHS Cyber Crimes Center (C3) combats cybercrime, online child sexual exploitation, and criminal exploitation of the internet with state-of-the-art forensic technology. The Center investigates large-scale cybercrime threats and provides expertise on cybercrime investigations to the field. It also uses global law enforcement networks, like Europol, to combat cybercrime threats.
The largest number of arrests — 153 — were made in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom with 55 and Germany with 52, according to the European Union law enforcement agency Europol, which coordinated the worldwide operation. In another significant case, Brian McDonald of California copped a 20-year sentence after admitting he used various darknet aliases to sling fentanyl and cocaine nationwide. Tragically, investigators linked at least one confirmed overdose death directly to his operation. This massive undertaking stretched across four continents, with investigators working together in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and South Korea.
- The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Cybercrime Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust provided significant assistance.
- Adding another layer of pressure, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also slapped sanctions on Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, identified as the operator of the Nemesis marketplace.
- Its alleged administrator, a 30-year-old German national who has not yet been named, was cuffed by officers at his apartment in Barcelona, and “measures were taken in Germany and Sweden against one moderator and six of the marketplace’s highest vendors,” officials stated.
- From hard drugs like cocaine and heroin to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the offerings were both diverse and deadly.
- The seized drugs included 141 pounds of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics, more than 569 pounds of amphetamines, 95 pounds of cocaine, 95 pounds of MDMA and 22 pounds of LSD and ecstasy pills, authorities said.
Veracode’s Chris Wysopal On The Security Issues With AI Code Development
The interagency efforts are aimed to both identify those who use anonymizing technologies to purchase illicit narcotics and direct them to available resources. Archetyp’s takedown adds to a growing list of darknet markets shut down by international task forces in recent years. Like Dream Market and Silk Road before it, Archetyp had gained a reputation within criminal circles for its reliability and scope. Authorities say its removal will have a big impact on online drug trafficking networks, at least temporarily. The indictment alleges the illegal sale of more than $100 million in illicit narcotics and misbranded prescription drugs, including heroin, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, oxycodone, methamphetamines, ketamine, and alprazolam.
A Historic Blow To Darknet Crime
After making a purchase, buyers could review and rate the vendors on various criteria including “stealth.” The suspected duo also alleged employed moderators to resolve any disputes between buyers and sellers on the site. During the investigation, law enforcement seized cryptocurrency valued at $75 million at the time of the seizures, as well as cash and precious metals. Individuals across the world can report suspicious criminal activity to the ICE Tip Line 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 866-DHS-2-ICE.
- Europol said in a statement on Monday that between June 11 and 13, 300 officers were deployed to carry out a ‘series of coordinated actions’ across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden targeting the platform’s administrators, vendors and technical infrastructure.
- The U.S. portion of the investigation was coordinated through the DOJ’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, which includes the DOJ, FBI and DEA, among others.
- While Monero obscures transaction details, Bitcoin’s traceable blockchain provided law enforcement with critical leads, particularly at the point of off-ramp—when vendors converted crypto into fiat or moved assets through centralized exchanges.
- In addition, Parsarad is also charged with money laundering conspiracy for both using proceeds to promote illegal drug dealing and for offering money laundering services through Nemesis Market by mixing cryptocurrencies used to pay for goods and services to obscure their origins.
- The largest number of arrests were made in the U.S., which is in the grips of an overdose crisis.
Terrorism And Illicit Finance
In addition, in November 2023, an undercover law enforcement officer received several tablets purporting to be oxycodone purchased on the Incognito Market. Tests on these tablets revealed that they were not authentic oxycodone at all but were, in fact, fentanyl pills. On March 20, 2024, U.S., German, and Lithuanian law enforcement agencies seized Nemesis’ servers in a joint operation. Since the takedown of Nemesis, Parsarad has discussed setting up a new darknet marketplace to take the place of Nemesis with vendors that were once active on the marketplace.
State AGs Sue 23andMe Over Auction, Say Don’t Sell Customer DNA
Lin was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 18 and was presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Archetyp Market, which boasted more than 600,000 users, operated for more than five years and contained more than 17,000 listings for illicit substances, including cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines. Europol also said the market allowed the sale of fentanyl and “other highly potent synthetic opioids.”Authorities seized the site’s online infrastructure, which was hosted in the Netherlands, and arrested its 30-year-old German administrator in Barcelona, Spain. A moderator and six prominent vendors were arrested simultaneously in other countries, and officers seized assets worth about $9 million. Examples include the sale of high-quality products with low risk for contamination (including lacing and cutting), vendor-tested products, sharing of trip reports, and online discussion of harm reduction practices. Some health professionals such as “DoctorX” provide information, advice and drug-testing services on the darknet.140 The quality of products is attributed to the competition and transparency of darknet markets139 which involve user feedback and reputation features.
Europol Dismantles ‘Archetyp’ Dark Web Drug Market
Local, state, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation SpecTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships. HSI New York leads and directs all operational and administrative activities of the El Dorado Task Force (EDTF). The EDTF is the premier money laundering task force in the nation and comprises more than 200 law enforcement personnel representing approximately 35 federal, state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The EDTF encompasses a standalone Cyber Division as part of an effort to stay abreast of emerging criminal threats and in keeping with current and future investigative priorities. The EDTF’s mission is to disrupt, dismantle or render ineffective organizations involved in the laundering of proceeds of narcotics trafficking and other financial crimes. Since its inception in 1992, the task force has been responsible for the seizure of approximately $600 million and more than 2100 arrests.
In addition to dealing in prohibited materials, the indictment also charges Parsarad with offering money laundering services, with Nemesis used to mix the cryptocurrencies used to pay for goods and services. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-drive, multi-agency approach. Still, the data acquired from this operation will likely fuel years of follow-up actions and targeted arrests. While darknet demand may not disappear, making supply lines more fragmented and risky raises costs and slows distribution — both of which reduce harm. Archetyp provided a platform for the trade of drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA, and synthetic opioids.
Synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, kill more Americans every year than died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. A complaint filed in the District of New Jersey was unsealed today charging Thalha Jubair, a United Kingdom national, with conspiracies to commit computer fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering… “We have very creative people who are themselves very innovative within the law and using a variety of tools to catch people who think they can hide in the dark net,” Wray said at Tuesday’s press conference. “These people don’t just operate on one market, they cover the full spectrum of the dark web,” says Europol’s Georges. On Monday, Europol announced it had dismantled Archetyp Market, which had been around since 2020, making it one of the “most enduring” dark web drug providers, the agency said.
Today’s sanctions designation is OFAC’s first action as a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-led interagency Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) Team. Building on the successes of prior years’ operations, Operation RapTOR furthered global efforts to dismantle darknet marketplaces, resulting in the seizure of darknet infrastructure from Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets. These actions provided investigators across the globe with invaluable leads and evidence, strengthening the ongoing fight against cybercrime and illicit activities on the darknet. In a decisive international crackdown, law enforcement agencies from six countries have dismantled Archetyp Market — a notorious darknet drug marketplace that operated under the radar for over five years. The digital drug bazaar had evolved into one of the dark web’s most prominent hubs, boasting over 612,000 users and generating more than €250 million (nearly \$289 million) in illegal cryptocurrency transactions. Known for distributing a vast array of narcotics, including cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamines, and lethal opioids like fentanyl, Archetyp Market served as a massive pipeline for illegal substances across the globe.
Inside, buyers could browse thousands of drug listings, many accompanied by reviews and ratings. The platform also featured prescription drug listings falsely marketed as authentic, and some products were outright scams—counterfeit pills advertised as legitimate pharmaceuticals. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard. Meanwhile, users of Archetyp began noticing the site’s main domains were down last week, causing some to suspect the site was facing trouble. It appears law enforcement then sent a message through the Archetyp administrator’s messaging channel, confirming the takedown.
The enforcement action took place between 11 and 13 June, with police forces in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Sweden executing a series of targeted operations. About 300 officers were involved, arresting the 30-year-old German administrator (known by aliases of YosemiteGhostWrite and BigBossChefOfArchetyp/ASNT) in Barcelona and taking down the marketplace’s infrastructure in the Netherlands. At that time, the project administration threatened to publish a complete dump of 557,000 orders and 862,000 hashes of cryptocurrency transactions by the end of May. They understood that the administrators had already committed an exit scam, as they could not withdraw their money. The arrest of Riu-Siang Lin, the former administrator of the closed Incognito marketplace, by the US authorities on 18th May is causing a domino effect in the underground illegal communities, leading to an alleged exit plan on the SuperMarket.
