The Justice Department arrested 179 people and seized $6.5 million in a global darknet sting operation.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced on Tuesday that the Justice Department had seized 500 kilograms of illicit drugs from online drug traffickers. More than half of the haul was confiscated in the United States, including seizures of fentanyl, oxycodone, methamphetamine, and hydrocodone. The operation also rounded up 63 illegal guns.
“Criminals selling fentanyl on the Darknet should pay attention to Operation DisrupTor,” Rosen said in a statement. “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.”
“Every day, [Justice Department agents are] working to show these criminals that they can no longer count on hiding on the darknet — because we’re going to infiltrate their networks, shut down their online illicit marketplaces, and bring them to justice, no matter what it takes,” Wray added.
The mission, which was called Operation DisrupTor, lasted nine months as officers combed the darknet. The darknet is an unsavory section of the internet that is only accessible through an encrypted network that leaves users anonymous. The Tor Browser is one darknet space that the Justice Department targeted.
The operation took place in the U.S. and Europe. Of the 179 people arrested, 121 were from the U.S., 42 were from Germany, and the others were citizens of Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Sweden.
The FBI believes the group arrested in the sting could be responsible for as many as 18,000 drug sales. Special Agent Maggie Blanton said darknet drug sales are concerning because of the broad reach they can have around the world.
“You can’t work these cases without being touched by the devastating human toll of these drugs — the lives and the loved ones lost,” Blanton said.
