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SPECTOR OPERATION: 288 INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED IN THE SEIZURE OF MARKETPLACE
MONOPOLY MARKET

May 2, 2023  By Pierluigi Paganini




INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATION SPECTOR RESULTED IN THE SEIZURE OF AN
ONLINE MARKETPLACE AND THE ARREST OF NEARLY 300 PEOPLE.

In an international law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol, codenamed
‘SpecTor’, the police seized the illegal dark web marketplace ‘Monopoly Market.’
The law enforcement agencies from nine countries (Austria, France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States, and
Switzerland) arrested 288 individuals suspected to be involved in buying or
selling drugs on the dark web.

The law enforcement seized more than EUR 50.8 million (USD 53.4 million) in cash
and virtual currencies, 850 kg of drugs, and 117 firearms were seized. According
to the press release published by the Europol, the seized drugs include over 258
kg of amphetamines, 43 kg of cocaine, 43 kg of MDMA, and over 10 kg of LSD and
ecstasy pills.


00:00/00:00



The Monopoly Market was launched in 2019 and the German authorities seized the
marketplace’s infrastructure in December 2021.

“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. These target packages, created by
cross-matching and analysing the collected data and evidence, served as the
basis for hundreds of national investigations.” reads the press release
published by the Europol. “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.”

The arrested individuals were engaged in tens of thousands of sales of illicit
goods.

This is the first time that Europol confirmed the seizure of the Monopoly Market
that took place in December 2021 and revealed that it has used the collected
evidence on individuals involved in illegal transactions to extend the
investigation of the entire network of criminals engaged in the activities
associated with the marketplace.

Most of the arrests took place in the United States (153), the United Kingdom
(55), and Germany (52). Other arrested individuals were from the Netherlands
(10), Austria (9), France (5), Switzerland (2), Poland (1) and Brazil (1).

“A number of investigations to identify additional individuals behind dark web
accounts are still ongoing. As law enforcement authorities gained access to the
vendors’ extensive buyer lists, thousands of customers across the globe are now
at risk of prosecution as well.” continues the press release.



Europol pointed out that the number of arrested individuals in the SpecTor
operation is greater than the number of arrests for the 2020 DisrupTor and 2021
Dark HunTor (2021) law enforcement operations.

In April 2022, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Bundeskriminalamt
(BKA), announced they have shut down Hydra, one of the world’s largest dark web
marketplace. The seizure of the Hydra Market is the result of an international
investigation conducted by the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) in
partnership with U.S. law enforcement authorities since August 2021.

Hydra was a top Russian Darknet market famous among Russian speaking users that
have been active since 2015. According to the authorities, its sales amounted to
at least 1.23 billion euros in 2020 alone. The German police seized
approximately EUR 23 million worth of Bitcoin. The German authorities reported
that around 17 million customers and over 19,000 seller accounts were registered
on the Hydra Market.

> “Our coalition of law enforcement authorities across three continents proves
> that we all do better when we work together. This operation sends a strong
> message to criminals on the dark web: international law enforcement has the
> means and the ability to identify and hold you accountable for your illegal
> activities, even on the dark web.” said Europol’s Executive Director,
> Catherine De Bolle.
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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, SpecTor)


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PIERLUIGI PAGANINI

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and
Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he
is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer.
Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security
expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical
Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that
security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security
blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US.
Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some
major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island,
Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security
magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency
and Bitcoin”.




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