International police arrest 354 suspects in dark web crackdown

Law enforcement agencies from 14 countries arrested 354 suspects from May 2025 to October 2026 in Operation TorNado, targeting vendors and buyers on the Archetyp, Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia and Kingdom dark web marketplaces.

The United States led with 132 arrests, followed by 59 in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary and 41 in Germany, law enforcement officials reported. Arrests occurred in France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Ireland, Czechia, Australia and Finland. Officers in Finland made one arrest and carried out 159 interrogations, while police carried out hundreds of house searches during the operation.

European police seized more than one million prescription tablets and 950 kilograms of illicit drugs, along with 57 firearms and over €60 million in cash and cryptocurrency. American authorities seized over €150 million, or $166 million, in cash and cryptocurrency, together with 152 firearms and more than 4.8 metric tonnes of illicit drugs. Authorities worldwide reported about 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms.

Authorities reported a combined seizure total above $234 million in money and digital assets. The Justice Department and Europol did not split the $234 million total between cash and cryptocurrency, and neither agency named a specific coin in the official figures. The agencies have not said how much of the total was cryptocurrency or how much was bitcoin.

Operation TorNado follows Operation RapTor from the previous year. Authorities announced 270 arrests tied to vendors and buyers from ten countries during that earlier operation. Previous actions include DisrupTor in 2020, which resulted in 179 arrests, and Dark Huntor in 2021, where 150 high-volume darknet vendors were apprehended. In 2023, Operation SpecTor led to 288 arrests and seized €50.8 million, or $55.9 million, in cash and cryptocurrency.

U.S. authorities and German police took down Hydra in April 2022. The marketplace had more than 19,000 seller accounts and served over 17 million customers.

Justice Department officials called the operation the sixth internationally coordinated action since 2018 and the most extensive one yet. Europol coordinated the multinational effort and issued a parallel statement on the same day as the Justice Department announcement. The agency sent staff to Czechia and Slovenia during the operation. It also coordinated national cases, so investigators would not pursue the same suspects twice.

Europol deployed forensic and blockchain analysis teams to trace illicit transactions during the operation. Justice Department officials said investigators drew on intelligence from earlier JCODE marketplace and vendor takedowns to find Dark Web drug traffickers through separate but complementary investigations.

FBI Director Kash Patel called the operation the largest takedown yet. He described it as “the largest interagency takedown of Dark Web drug vendors and buyers to date.” Jarod Koopman of IRS Criminal Investigation said money is essential for criminal networks to operate. Justice Department officials said the operation disrupted online opioid trade and warned that criminals on the Dark Web face law enforcement.

Europol said markets continue to adapt even after takedowns. Europol’s 2026 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment says shut-down markets are quickly replaced, that marketplaces divide into separate platforms, and that each platform centers on one crime category.

Prosecutors charged Alexander Green, 32, of Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the Southern District of Ohio with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances including fentanyl. Authorities arrested him in June. Prosecutors allege that Green ran the STARLABS vendor on DrugHub, a Monero-only dark web market tied to two overdose deaths. A conviction could bring up to 20 years of imprisonment.

An indictment or complaint only alleges criminal conduct, and the law presumes defendants innocent until proven guilty.

Stanislav Chernyshov, 30, and Vladislav Chernyshov, 35, face charges in the Eastern District of Virginia. Prosecutors accuse the brothers of conspiracy to distribute Schedule I synthetic opioids. Prosecutors allege the brothers operated the BarbaraWhite vendor, sold counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with nitazenes and shipped more than 1,000 parcels across 49 states. Each brother could receive up to 20 years of imprisonment if convicted.

According to a search-warrant affidavit, bitcoin transfers tied the BarbaraWhite account and the Nemesis market.

The sweep extended to people trading on discussion boards, individual vendor sites and encrypted messaging apps. Europol said, “Additionally, law enforcement targeted vendors and buyers active on forums, single-vendor shops, and encrypted messaging services.” Authorities continue working to identify the operators of remaining dark web accounts, and federal prosecutions are underway in more than 20 U.S. districts.