International Police Arrests 288 Suspects in a Dark Web Bust

Named the ‘SpecTor’, this was a joint operation conducted by US, British, Brazilian and European law enforcement agencies, who were able to recover over $53.4 million and 850 kilograms of drugs

Law enforcement authorities from the US, Britain, Brazil and Europe conducted a multi-continental crackdown against a major dark web marketplace, arresting 288 suspects, recovering over $53 Million and seizing over 850 kilograms of drugs.

According to details released by Europol, the largest number of arrests were made in the US with over 153 suspects, 55 suspects were arrested from Britain, 52 suspects were arrested from Germany and 10 suspects were arrested from the Netherlands.

It’s reported that all suspects arrested in these raids were involved in the buying and selling of illegal drugs on a dark web marketplace named the ‘Monopoly Market’.

“In an operation coordinated by Europol and involving nine countries, law enforcement have seized the illegal dark web marketplace ‘Monopoly Market’ and arrested 288 suspects involved in buying or selling drugs on the dark web,” said Europol in its statement about the multi-continental crackdown.

This multi-continental operation is a follow up on a 2021 operation conducted by the German Police. During its 2021 operation, the German Police was able to get hold of the Monopoly Market’s criminal infrastructure, giving crucial intelligence for the multi-continental crackdown that followed.

“Europol has been compiling intelligence packages based on troves of evidence provided by the German authorities,” said Europol.

“These target packages, created by cross-matching and analysing the collected data and evidence, served as the basis for hundreds of national investigations. As a result, 288 vendors and buyers who engaged in tens of thousands of sales of licit goods were arrested across Europe, Britain, the United States and Brazil,” they added.

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