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LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES worldwide have taken down an illegal dark web marketplace called Monopoly Market as part of a crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency transactions, according to a press release by Europol on May 2.
SpecTor, the operation, reportedly saw $53.4 million worth of cash and crypto seized, along with the arrest of 288 vendors who primarily sold drugs and firearms through Monopoly Market and other similar websites.
In addition, of the 288 arrests, 153 were made in the US, 55 in the UK, and 52 in Germany, with one man based in California accounting for over $2 million worth of sales of methamphetamines and fentanyl. The remaining arrests took place in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Poland, and Brazil.
Operation SpecTor began in October 2021 and was part of a broader effort by law enforcement agencies that led to the seizure and shutdown of Hydra and Genesis Market in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Hydra was the largest illegal marketplace on the dark web at the time, while Genesis was the largest identity theft market.
Moreover, similar to the operation against Hydra, German police initially seized the server infrastructure of Monopoly Market in December 2021 and subsequently launched a "honey pot" operation in collaboration with Europol and other agencies worldwide. The operation targeted "high-value" vendors who supplied illegal goods worth millions of dollars to markets globally.
According to the US Justice Department, Operation SpecTor was an "unprecedented" enforcement action by a consortium of US and international law enforcement against dark web drug markets and illicit crypto transactions.
In a statement issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland, he claimed that the DoJ's efforts to combat the fentanyl epidemic and the Sinaloa Cartel have revealed that criminals are increasingly turning to the dark web and selling drugs for cryptocurrencies.
He also added that criminals assume that selling anonymously on darknet marketplaces will enable them to avoid the law, but the outcomes of recent law enforcement operations prove that anonymity will not protect them.
Furthermore, Merrick explained that the DoJ intends to pursue every criminal on the dark web, regardless of where they try to hide on the "farthest reaches of the internet."
Title: Global Law Enforcement Takes Down Dark Web Marketplace Monopoly Market, Seizes Millions in Cash and Crypto
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