Latest news with #OperationDeepSentinel
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Dark web's longest-standing drug market worth £200million is busted with 30-year-old German 'Big Boss' mastermind arrested in Barcelona after global police operation
The longest-standing dark web drug market worth £200million has been dismantled following a years-long investigation, as its mastermind is arrested in Barcelona. The site, known as Archetyp Market, was busted last week by European authorities with the help of the US in an effort dubbed 'Operation Deep Sentinel'. Europol said in a statement on Monday that between June 11 and 13, 300 officers were deployed to carry out a 'series of coordinated actions' across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden targeting the platform's administrators, vendors and technical infrastructure. It added that the platform's infrastructure in the Netherlands was taken offline and that the mastermind behind the operation - a 30-year-old German known as 'Big Boss' - had been arrested in Barcelona. Users of the Archetyp Market website are now met with a banner informing them the site has been taken down. 'This operation led by the German authorities marks the end of a criminal service that enabled the anonymous trade in high volumes of illicit drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and synthetic opioids', the statement said. Europol said the takedown comes after years of investigation into the platform's 'technical architecture' and the individuals behind it, adding that its findings were achieved by analysing digital forensic evidence. Europol's Deputy Executive Director of Operations Jean-Philippe Lecouffe said: 'With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web's longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world's most dangerous substances. 'By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm.' It comes after international law enforcement agencies led by the FBI seized a sprawling dark web marketplace popular with cybercriminals back in 2023. The hacker cyber-bazaar, known as Genesis Market, was seized in a multinational crackdown dubbed 'Operation Cookie Monster' after the site's specialization in stolen digital fingerprints, known as cookies. According to the FBI, Genesis Market offered access to data stolen from more than 1.5 million compromised computers around the world, containing over 80 million account access credentials. The stolen data included passwords for services such as online banking, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal and Netflix, as well as digital fingerprints that can be exploited by criminals to bypass online security checks by spoofing the victim's device. In coordinated raids around the world, more than 200 searches were carried out and about 120 people were arrested, including 24 arrests in and around the British town of Grimsby, UK law enforcement officials said. The raid on Genesis followed a similar US-led enforcement actions in 2023 against other darknet hacker market places, including Hydra Market and Breach Forums. But experts warned that hacker gangs are often slippery, and similar markets often soon re-emerge.
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Time of India
$290 million in crypto, 600,000 users and more...: Police of 6 countries take down Europe longest-standing dark web drug market
Authorities from six nations have dismantled Archetyp Market , a notorious darknet drug marketplace that had been in operation since May 2020. According to Europol , the platform facilitated large-scale drug transactions, offering substances like cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, cannabis, MDMA, and synthetic opioids, including fentanyl. With over 3,200 vendors and more than 17,000 listings, it became the longest standing dark web drug market . During its five-year run, Archetyp Market attracted over 612,000 users and processed transactions totaling more than €250 million (approximately $289 million) in Monero cryptocurrency, Bleeping computer said. "Between 11 and 13 June, a series of coordinated actions took place across Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, targeting the platform's administrator, moderators, key vendors, and technical infrastructure. Around 300 officers were deployed to carry out enforcement actions and secure critical evidence," Europol said. How the police cracked down the illegal drug marketplace by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo As part of the international enforcement effort, dubbed Operation Deep Sentinel , German police led the charge with support from Europol and Eurojust . Other countries that collaborated in the effort included Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the US. Investigators in the Netherlands dismantled the site's infrastructure, while Spanish authorities arrested a 30-year-old German national suspected of being its administrator in Barcelona, said Bleeping Computer, adding one moderator and six of the most active vendors were apprehended in Germany and Sweden. "With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web's longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world's most dangerous substances. By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm," said Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Europol's deputy executive director of operations. The operation led to the seizure of 47 smartphones, 45 computers, narcotics, and assets valued at 7.8 million euros, marking a significant crackdown on dark web drug trafficking .
