Recently, there was a report that authorities have launched one of the famous Darknet chases leading to the shutting down of two of the leading Darknet marketplaces; Alphabay and Hansa market.
The operation led to the arrest of many Darknet market vendors, among which most of them were teenagers.
Authorities gave an assurance that they were going through records to hunt down the users of these websites.
The latest report reaching us states that three Darknet market users, which includes a 17-year-old boy, has been arrested in the Netherlands, during the operation to shut down these websites.
According to the NRC report, the three suspects were arrested in the Gelderland, after the police suspected them of dealing in drugs on the Darknet. They are suspected to be dealers on the Hansa market before its recent shut down by authorities.
Many youths have been arrested in the ongoing raid of the Global Law Enforcement Operation. The intensity of the chase is a clear indication that the success rate of the operation will be very high at the end.
The Hansa market and the Alphabay hosted many users on its network. Alphabay alone had 250,000 listings and over 200,000 members. The agencies that have prioritized the fight against the Darknet have shown signs of dissatisfaction, thirsting for the arrest of its users.
According to reports, the police have arrested many Darknet users, and more are expected to follow. A seller who thought he had escaped with 1,000 Bitcoins was also arrested by the agency.
The investigation was successfully done by the joint operation of the Lithuania, Germany, and the Dutch authorities.
The chase on Darknet market and users has become intense, but Andrew Mccabe, the Acting FBI Director believes that criminal network is difficult to fight against. “Our critics will say as we shut down one site another site emerges. And they may be right. But that is the nature of criminal work. It never goes away, you have to constantly keep at it, and you’ve got to use every tool in your toolbox,” said Mccabe.
The negative impact of the Darknet market is high. America, for instance, has recorded a serious number of drug overdoses over the years, and a number of these drugs originated from the Darknet.
The Netherlands also has a number of users on the Darknet market. These sites motivate the smuggling of weapons across the whole of Europe and have encouraged terrorism in some selected countries.
It is no surprise that European agencies are trying as much as possible to eradicate all Darknet activities. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) released in a research conducted in last year that Darknet activities are gaining popularity in Europe.
The Darknet is a breeding ground for all criminal activities. The arrest of the three suspects is meant to send a message to the rest of the users that “authorities are coming for them.” The report of the EMCDDA reads; “Although it is not clear how complete and representative such data are,” the EMCDDA explains, “the findings suggest that Europe may be a significant player in global online drug marketplaces.”
The intensity of the Darknet chase reflects in how the investigators managed to expose the owner of the Alphabay market and the Hansa market.
A report says that authorities monitored the Hansa market for about a month, before shutting it down. The operators of the Hansa market were also arrested in Germany a few days ago after investigators located its infrastructure in the Netherlands.
The report has it that users of the Alphabay and the Hansa market are now trooping into the Dream market, but it is more likely that some of them will be captured and more websites will be seized.
The US Attorney General Jeff Session said in a press release that they will continue to make an arrest, just as the Netherlands has started. “We will continue to find, arrest, prosecute, convict and incarcerate criminals, drug traffickers, and their enablers, wherever they are. The darknet is not a place to hide. We will use every tool we have to stop criminals from exploiting vulnerable people and sending so many Americans to an early grave,” Sessions said.
It is advisable for the remaining Darknet market administrators to be aware that authorities can hit at them anytime soon.
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