Operation SpecTor: Hundreds of Vendors Arrested
According to the DoJ, in addition to the arrest of 288 suspected vendors and buyers, Operation SpecTor led to the seizure of 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs, and $53.4 million in cash and cryptocurrencies.
As disclosed by German authorities in a joint press release by General Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt am Main and the Central Criminal Inspectorate in Oldenburg, the operation was based on information acquired from the takeover of Monopoly Market by German authorities in collaboration with the FBI in December 2021.
The investigators seized the market's servers in Germany and Finland. From information acquired from the servers, the investigators established that the market had 403 vendors who had completed over 130,000 orders. Over 640 Bitcoin and 26,000 Monero had been exchanged in the completion of the drug sales.
German investigators collected evidence against the users of the market and shared it with Europol. The evidence was shared with international law enforcement agencies resulting in coordinated investigations in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Switzerland.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 228 suspected buyers and sellers of illicit goods on the dark web. The arrested suspects include 153 in the United States, 55 in the United Kingdom, 52 in Germany, 10 in the Netherlands, 9 in Austria, 5 in France, 2 in Switzerland, and 1 each in Poland and Brazil.
The 850 kilograms of drugs seized during the operation include 258 kilograms of amphetamine, 43 kilograms of cocaine, 43 kilograms of MDMA, 64 kilograms of fentanyl-laced drugs, and over 10 kilograms of LSD and ecstasy pills.
Quote:Attorney General Merrick B. Garland
Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international law enforcement effort, spanning three continents, to disrupt drug trafficking on the dark web and represents the most funds seized and the highest number of arrests in any coordinated international action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web. Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes.
Operation SpecTor is the largest internationally coordinated operation against buyers and sellers of illicit goods through the dark web. It was preceded by operations DisrupTor in 2020 and Dark HunTor in 2021 with 179 and 150 arrests respectively.
Comments (23)
MescalBean2023-05-06f7fa2089
No. They would announce it if they caught the admin. There is very little detail here because they're playing word games about what they really did. 288 "vendors and buyers" arrested. AND BUYERS is where prob 287 of those arrests.
DougFug2023-05-048f6bb0a2
So it seem like cartel market ,Darkcode Market also take down by authorities?. All think it was exit scam but now it’s clear it was take down.
Shipmaster2023-05-161df0e0ba
It could be both. After site was discovered compromised they cut and run.
Forrest Gump2023-05-043a72fa3d
Time after time I am amazed by folks stupidity.. Using Bitcoin? What a morons.. It is quite puzzling, why they are hoarding data - essentually collecting evidence against themselves and others? Are they playing banks or goverment? It's just plain stupid.
suchwow.xyz2023-05-0502802d94
They should use Wownero with its 22 RingCT or Monero in the worst case.
IHATEKIKES2023-05-04f5b8c2ef
law enforcement are faggots, let people get high and go catch Epstein's buddies instead, fucking filthy pigs deserve death
digitalthief2023-05-05701fb392
Well, let's be real here, bro. The fact that the cops were able to seize 64 kilos of fent laced drugs is a pretty impressive feat. But honestly, anyone who's still out there buying and selling this shit is basically signing their own death warrant. It's like saying "Hey, I want to play a game where I might die from an overdose, sounds like a great idea!" What kind of logic is that, am I right? If you're willing to take that kind of risk for a cheap high, then you deserve whatever fate comes your way. Darwinism at its finest, my friend.
HoloJustice2023-05-0531bd3d4a
Yeah those slimey jewbags are all over. The good news the sould of Judea is being destroyed and now it's going to manifest on this plane. Soon all the scum is going to be gone. They had is coming for a long time.
whocares2023-05-06d17f2050
just like the bad reporting from the border with all the pressed pills coming. How much of that 64 kilos is actual fent. They definatly inflate the ammount of fent caught at the border. its mostly binder
eurogoof2023-05-09431fdd46
how come south america and part of canada is highlighted on that map - those countries arent listed LOL how much of this is lies? if this is an indicator....
J . Edgar2023-05-12fe148ace
Fent is imported through Canada in Barrels made to look like rice . Same with LAtin America. They want ua all to be slaves to dope or 6 feet under so we dont put up a fight when they try to foreclose and move half their citizens here. Thank your retired senators for selling 85% of our debt to the Chinese. Tide with Russia in hating Americans.
Pez dispenser2023-05-129509bd18
Mexicans have us all beat. Hell they dont even use cell phones. vacuum seal, backpack, Rio Grande: The Feds are staring at their computers and they have a nearly endless window of time
littleshit2023-05-1942cee047
Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes: So much stupidity in these words when in reality they are much bigger criminals than a few Internet users but it's easy to hide their big shit with little shit
Snitch2023-05-043808b544
Wonder if the admin got caught