Content
The dark web has become a hub for illegal activities, including the sale of drugs, weapons, and stolen data. To combat these illicit operations, law enforcement agencies around the world are cracking down on darknet markets. But just how many police agencies are involved in this effort?
Global Effort Against Darknet Markets
A response to Dolliver’s’ Evaluating drug trafficking on the Tor network’
Multiple police agencies from different countries are actively targeting darknet markets to dismantle these criminal networks and bring perpetrators to justice. Some of the key players in this global effort include:
This data suggests that while vendors spread offers more evenly across the markets, buyers showed a clear preference for Mega. The site had over 42,000 listings as of the time it was taken down, with hundreds of sellers and tens of thousands of customers registered as users. One of the largest, most creative dark market takedowns in the history of the internet. This year’s law enforcement operation was accompanied by a public awareness campaign called Operation ProtecTor aimed to promote public safety and spread awareness of resources for those struggling with substance abuse and who go through extreme lengths to obtain opioids.
International
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- European Cybercrime Centre (EC3)
- National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK
- Australian Federal Police (AFP)
TRM research shows that darknet markets (DNMs) have bounced back following the shutdown of Hydra, the world’s largest such marketplace, by German law enforcement in April 2022. Today’s action also reinforces OFAC’s recent public guidance to further cut off avenues for potential sanctions evasion by Russia, in support of the G7 leaders’ commitment to maintain the effectiveness of economic measures. Sanctioned Russian persons are known to employ a wide variety of measures in their efforts to evade U.S. and international sanctions. As such, U.S. persons, wherever located, including firms that process virtual currency transactions, must be vigilant against attempts to circumvent OFAC regulations and must take risk-based steps to ensure they do not engage in prohibited transactions. OFAC is closely monitoring any efforts to circumvent or violate Russia-related sanctions, including through the use of virtual currency, and is committed to using its broad enforcement authorities to act against violations and to promote compliance.
DEA continued to partner with the National Police of the Netherlands following the July takedown in an ongoing effort to identify individuals who purchase drugs on the dark web and to further disrupt dangerous drug trafficking. Further examination of the Hansa Market data revealed illicit drug purchase information identifying U.S. and Dutch individuals, resulting in numerous face-to-face doorstep visits by police (so-called “knock and talks”) to suspected opioid buyers throughout the U.S. and the Netherlands. Future enforcement action such as search warrants, arrests, and seizures could come as a result of intelligence gathered from the knock and talks. There are many types of malicious tools and services being sold in the darknet markets, some of which we have already shared in part 2 of our cybercrime underground series.
Little is known of the post-intervention dynamics in non-urban domains (Johnson, Guerette, & Bowers, 2014), including cyberspace (for a notable exception, see Décary-Hétu & Giommoni, 2017). This lacuna warrants attention because crime’s organizational logic might differ when activities are computer-mediated rather than bound by geography, due to the particular spatial-temporal characteristics of online interaction (Yar, 2005). In successful cases, law enforcement can combine this intelligence with other investigative techniques to seize the online infrastructure and residual virtual currency, like in the case of the Silk Road seizure. In 2013, the FBI shut down a dark web marketplace called Silk Road, founded by a young man in Texas named Ross Ulbricht.
FAQs About Police Agencies Going After Darknet Markets
1. How many police agencies are involved in targeting darknet markets?
National Institute of Justice
There are numerous police agencies worldwide that are actively pursuing darknet markets, with collaboration between different countries to combat this underground criminal activity.
The information on this blog may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, accurate, correct or up-to-date. Darknet markets remain highly lucrative enterprises, and if anything, the retirements could give operators the confidence that they can operate a successful market and make their fortunes – without being apprehended. In addition to this, an exit scam may be less attractive once an operator has accumulated significant wealth – especially if there is the risk of retribution from their customers.
2. What tactics do police agencies use to target darknet markets?
Police agencies employ a variety of tactics, such as undercover operations, monitoring online activities, and seizing illegal goods purchased through darknet markets to disrupt these illegal operations.
3. Are there any challenges in investigating darknet markets?
- The former result is consistent with theoretical expectations that vendors would move to sites where there were more vendors, potentially signally greater anonymity, where they were less likely to be singled out and hidden within a larger group.
- Western DNMs will continue to innovate and spearhead blockchain operational security, including the possibility to forgo Bitcoin and other public ledger blockchains altogether.
- For all of the money spent by police in these investigations, it’s fair to say that the net result from a user’s perspective is simply the inconvenience of a few searches, followed by registration at a new service.
- Operation Bayonet, a multinational law enforcement sting, ultimately shut down AlphaBay, seizing the site’s infrastructure and arresting its creator and administrator, Alexandre Cazes.
- “Joint domestic and international law enforcement actions have led to significant arrests and seizures of criminal assets and illicit funds and have enhanced the safety and security of the online environment for Australians,” the spokesperson says.
Yes, investigating darknet markets poses several challenges due to the anonymity of users and the use of encryption technologies to conceal illegal activities. However, police agencies continue to adapt their strategies to counter these obstacles.
Darknet market
In conclusion, the fight against darknet markets is a global effort involving multiple police agencies working together to combat illegal activities on the dark web. With ongoing efforts and collaboration, law enforcement aims to dismantle these illicit networks and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.
