Interpol arrested 288 suspects and seized more than 50 million euros.
The European law enforcement agency Europol on Tuesday announced an international operation that led to the closure of a prominent “dark web” website, the arrest of 288 suspects and the seizure of more than 50 million euros in cash and cryptocurrency.
The agency said in a statement that the joint operation, which was called “Spector”, and in which the American, British, Brazilian and European law enforcement authorities participated, led to the confiscation of about a ton of drugs and 117 firearms.
“In an operation coordinated by Europol and involving nine countries, law enforcement authorities seized the illegal dark web site ‘Monopolymarket’ and arrested 288 suspects involved in buying or selling drugs on the dark web,” the statement of the agency, which is based in The Hague, added.
“A number of these suspects have been considered high-value targets,” the statement said.
This operation follows a successful operation carried out by the German police in 2021, during which the infrastructure of the Monopoly Market website was confiscated.
Europol confirmed that it “was collecting intelligence based on evidence provided by the German authorities.”
“The information on the targets that came through matching and analyzing the data and evidence collected served as the basis for hundreds of national investigations,” she said.
“As a result, 288 buyers and sellers involved in tens of thousands of sales of illegal goods have been arrested across Europe, Britain, the United States and Brazil,” the European Law Enforcement Agency said.
