179 arrested in massive dark web bust

179 arrested in massive dark web bust

The sting is said to be the US Government’s largest operation targeting crime in the internet’s seedy underbelly



Law enforcement agencies from around the globe have swooped down on dozens of purveyors of illegal goods on the dark web. No fewer than 179 vendors of illicit goods have been handcuffed in an operation dubbed DisrupTor, which comprised several separate but complementary operations and was the result of a collective effort mostly by North American and European authorities.


Europe’s law enforcement agency, Europol, lauded the success of the raids in a press release, with Edvard Šileris, the director of its European Cybercrime Centre, saying: “Law enforcement is most effective when working together, and today’s announcement sends a strong message to criminals selling or buying illicit goods on the dark web: the hidden internet is no longer hidden, and your anonymous activity is not anonymous. Law enforcement is committed to tracking down criminals, no matter where they operate – be it on the streets or behind a computer screen.”


As noted by the United States’ Department of Justice, DisrupTor comes on the heels of two similar busts from the recent past. In March 2019, a global operation dubbed SaboTor resulted in the arrests of 61 suspected peddlers of illegal goods on the dark web. Two months later, another successful sting brought the takedown of Wall Street Market – the second-largest dark web online market dealing with the sale of illicit wares.


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