International Law Enforcement Effort Leads to Prosecution of Darknet Drug Traffickers
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) press release announced the conclusion of Operation DisrupTor, a coordinated multinational effort to combat opioid distribution on the Darknet. This operation was conducted in the United States and Europe.
Operation DisrupTor included many separate but complementary investigations and resulted in the arrest of 179 Darknet drug traffickers and fraudulent criminals. The same press release mentions that the operation resulted in the seizure of over $6.5 million in both cash and virtual currencies; approximately 500 kilograms of drugs worldwide; 274 kilograms of drugs, including fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, MDMA, and medicine containing addictive substances in the United States; and 63 firearms.
Perpetrators of these crimes were caught on many different Darknet websites including AlphaBay, Dream, WallStreet, and Nightmare. The press release stated, “By leveraging complementary partnerships and surging resources across the U.S. government and Europol, Operation DisrupTor was used to significantly disrupt the online opioid trade and send a strong message that criminals operating on the Darknet are not beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
DEA Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea said of the operation, “As technology has evolved, so too have the tactics of drug traffickers. Riding the wave of technological advances, criminals attempt to further hide their activities within the dark web through virtual private networks and tails, presenting new challenges to law enforcement in the enduring battle against illegal drugs. Operation DisrupTor demonstrates the ability of DEA and our partners to outpace these digital criminals in this ever-changing domain, by implementing innovative ways to identify traffickers attempting to operate anonymously and disrupt these criminal enterprises.”
Operation DisrupTor, which lasted over nine months, resulted in dozens of federal prosecutions. For example, the press release states, the Los Angeles JCODE Task Force, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, successfully dismantled a drug trafficking organization that used online monikers such as “Stealthgod” to sell methamphetamine and MDMA on multiple Darknet marketplaces. A Canadian was charged with conspiring to import drugs into the United States and money laundering conspiracy, in a four-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Atlanta. A grand jury in Cincinnati, Ohio, returned a 21-count indictment charging five individuals with drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.
Furthermore, the FBI Washington Field Office’s Hi-Tech Opioid Task Force, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, successfully thwarted a firebomb attack plot involving explosives, firearms, the Darknet, prescription opioid trafficking, cryptocurrency, and sophisticated money laundering.
Federal prosecutions are being conducted in over 20 federal districts, and multiple investigations remain ongoing. “Criminals selling fentanyl on the Darknet should pay attention to Operation DisrupTor,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. “The arrest of 179 of them in seven countries—with the seizure of their drug supplies and their money as well—shows that there will be no safe haven for drug dealing in cyberspace.”