A sweeping worldwide regulation enforcement initiative has led to the arrest of 270 people and the seizure of over $200 million in money and digital belongings, in keeping with a press release launched Thursday by the US Division of Justice.
Dubbed Operation RapTor, the trouble focused darkish net distributors, patrons, and directors concerned within the illicit trafficking of opioids, significantly fentanyl, and different narcotics.
DOJ’s Operation RapTor
In line with the official press release, the operation was carried out with the assistance of 10 international locations – together with america, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil – and marks probably the most important takedown within the historical past of the DOJ’s Joint Felony Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) group. Greater than two metric tons of medication had been confiscated, together with 144 kilograms of fentanyl-laced substances and over 180 firearms.
The JCODE, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), and worldwide companions pooled intelligence gathered from beforehand dismantled darknet markets reminiscent of Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets. These takedowns offered vital investigative leads that enabled a sequence of synchronized, but unbiased, enforcement actions throughout jurisdictions.
Apparently, this operation additionally included the primary sanctions by the Workplace of International Property Management (OFAC) as a JCODE member company. Iranian nationwide Behrouz Parsarad, founding father of Nemesis Market, was sanctioned and indicted on drug trafficking fees in Ohio following the market’s seizure.
In a press release, FBI Director Kash Patel stated,
“By cowardly hiding on-line, these traffickers have wreaked havoc throughout our nation and straight fueled the fentanyl disaster and gun violence impacting our American communities and neighborhoods. However the ease and accessibility of their crimes ends right this moment.”
OFAC Targets Nemesis
Earlier in March, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned 49 crypto addresses linked to Nemesis, a darknet market which is accused of facilitating a $30 million drug commerce. Iranian nationwide Behrouz Parsarad, the alleged founder, is accused of working the platform, accumulating charges, laundering cash, and supporting the sale of fentanyl, faux IDs, and hacking companies.
Nemesis operated from 2021 to 2024 and served greater than 30,000 customers throughout this era. Authorities seized its servers final 12 months together with $102,000 in crypto. Regardless of takedowns like this and others reminiscent of Genesis and Hydra, darknet marketplaces generated $1.7 billion in income in 2024.
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