Subj : FBI, Europol make hundreds of arrests in dark web shutdown
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Wed May 03 2023 15:45:03

FBI, Europol make hundreds of arrests in dark web shutdown

Date:
Wed, 03 May 2023 14:28:08 +0000

Description:
SpecTor shutdown sees almost 300 people arrested, and millions of dollars 
taken.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

A major policing operation has arrested hundreds of vendors and customers 
that were using a previously seized dark web marketplace to buy and sell 
illicit goods. 

In an announcement , Europol and the FBI revealed that in an international 
operation codenamed SpecTor, it identified and arrested 288 vendors and 
customers and seized $55.9 million in cash and various cryptocurrencies. 

"Europol has been compiling intelligence packages based on troves of evidence 
provided by German authorities, who successfully seized the marketplace's 
criminal infrastructure in December 2021," the announcement reads. The 
marketplaces criminal infrastructure the law enforcement agency refers to is 
known as Monopoly Market, and was seized by German authorities in 2021. 
Analyzing data 

Since then, Europol has been analyzing the data collected, to build cases and 
make arrests. Apparently, hundreds of cases were built using that data. 

"These target packages, created by cross-matching and analyzing the collected 
data and evidence, served as the basis for hundreds of national 
investigations, the announcement further reads. "The vendors arrested as a 
result of the police action against Monopoly Market were also active on other 
illicit marketplaces, further impeding the trade of drugs and illicit goods 
on the dark web." Read more 

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People used Monopoly Market to buy and sell drugs, guns, and other illegal 
goods and services. In this raid, Europol seized confiscated 850 kilograms of 
drugs (including cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA, LSD, ecstasy), and 117 
firearms. As the customers used Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies for 
payment, these were taken, as well. 

The majority of the people who were arrested were located in the United 
States (153), followed by the UK (55), Germany (52), the Netherlands (10), 
and Austria (9). 

Besides Europol, multiple other law enforcement agencies were involved in 
SpecTor, including the FBI, and national police forces of the UK, France, 
Poland, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Switzerland and the UK. Secure your devices 
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Via BleepingComputer



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/fbi-europol-make-hundreds-of-arrests-in-dark-we
b-shutdown


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