International Dark Web Bust Operation DarkHunTOR Sees 150 Arrests in Follow-up to DarkMarket Seizure

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Saturday, November 6, 2021
Author: 
Kenneth Boggess
Volume: 
37
Issue: 
11
Abstract: 

On October 26, 2021, agencies in the U.S. and European Union (EU) announced the seizure of cash, virtual currencies, and goods, in addition to the arrests of 150 alleged suspects, in a follow-up operation to the earlier takedown of dark web network DarkMarket.[1]  The operation, entitled Operation DarkHunTOR, came from a series of coordinated actions from government and law enforcement agencies in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.[2]  The operation was carried out in the framework of the EU’s security initiative EMPACT, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.[3]



[1]    International Law Enforcement Operation Targeting Opioid Traffickers on the Darknet Results in 150 Arrests Worldwide and the Seizure of Weapons, Drugs, and over $31 Million, Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs (Oct. 26, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/international-law-enforcement-operation-t....

[2]    150 arrested in dark web drug bust as police seize EUR 26 million, European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Oct. 26, 2021), https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/150-arrested-dark-web-drug-bust-police-seize-eur-26-million.

[3]   EMPACT fighting crime together , European Commission Department of Migration and Home Affairs, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/policies/law-enforcement-cooperation/operational-cooperation/empact-fighting-crime-together_en. [hereinafter Migration and Home Affairs]