International investigators have struck a major blow against drug trafficking on the dark web. 288 people were arrested in raids in nine countries, including 52 in Germany alone.
Police authorities in Europe and the USA have struck a major blow against illegal drug trafficking on the Internet. 288 suspects were arrested in raids in nine countries, including 52 in Germany. This was announced by the coordinating European police authority Europol in The Hague.
Investigators confiscated almost 51 million euros in cash and digital currencies, 850 kilograms of drugs and 117 firearms. Police units from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland took part in Operation SpecTor, as did officials in Brazil, Great Britain, Switzerland and the USA.
Findings of German authorities
According to Europol, the current success against the Darknet marketplace “Monopoly Market” is based on knowledge gained by German authorities when the criminal networks of this trading platform were dismantled in December 2021.
In April 2022, German and US investigators dug up the “Hydra” internet market, an illegal trading center with an estimated turnover of 1.23 billion euros. At that time, 23 million euros in cryptocurrencies were confiscated by the German police.
According to Europol, since investigators got hold of extensive data from buyers, thousands of customers worldwide must now expect criminal prosecution.