The U.S. Justice Department released
the below information:
The Department of Justice,
through the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team joined
Europol to announce the results of Operation Dark HunTor, a coordinated
international effort on three continents to disrupt opioid trafficking on the
Darknet.
The operation, which was
conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, was a result of the
continued partnership between JCODE and foreign law enforcement against the
illegal sale of drugs and other illicit goods and services. Operation Dark
HunTor builds on the success of last year’s Operation DisrupTor and
the coordinated law enforcement takedown earlier
this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then-largest illegal
marketplace on the Darknet. At the time, German authorities arrested the
marketplace’s alleged operator and seized the site’s infrastructure, providing
investigators across the world with a trove of evidence. Europol’s European
Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and JCODE have since been compiling intelligence
packages to identify key targets.
Following the DarkMarket
takedown in January 2021, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies
identified Darknet drug vendors and buyers, resulting in a series of
complementary, but separate, law enforcement investigations. Operation Dark
HunTor actions have resulted in the arrest of 150 alleged Darknet drug
traffickers and other criminals who engaged in tens of thousands of sales of
illicit goods and services across Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Prior
to, but in support of Operation Dark HunTor, Italian authorities also shut down
the DeepSea and Berlusconi dark web marketplaces which
boasted over 40,000 advertisements of illegal products. Four
alleged administrators were arrested, and €3.6 million in
cryptocurrencies were seized in coordinated U.S.-Italian operations.
Operation Dark HunTor resulted
in the seizure of over $31.6 million in both cash and virtual currencies;
approximately 234 kilograms (kg) of drugs worldwide including 152.1 kg of
amphetamine, 21.6 kg of cocaine, 26.9 kg of opioids, 32.5 kg of MDMA, in
addition to more than 200,000 ecstasy, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and
methamphetamine pills, and counterfeit medicine ; and 45 firearms. Darknet
vendor accounts were also identified and attributed to real individuals selling
illicit goods on active marketplaces, as well as inactive Darknet marketplaces
such as Dream, WallStreet, White House, DeepSea, and Dark Market.
Operation Dark HunTor led to
65 arrests in the United States, one in Bulgaria, three in France, 47 in
Germany, four in the Netherlands, 24 in the United Kingdom, four in Italy, and
two in Switzerland. A number of investigations are still ongoing.
“This 10-month massive
international law enforcement operation spanned across three continents and
involved dozens of U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to send one
clear message to those hiding on the Darknet peddling illegal drugs: there is
no dark internet. We can and we will shine a light,” said Deputy Attorney
General Monaco. “Operation Dark HunTor prevented countless lives from being
lost to this dangerous trade in illicit and counterfeit drugs, because one pill
can kill. The Department of Justice with our international partners will
continue to crack down on lethal counterfeit opioids purchased on the Darknet.”
“The men and women of the
department’s Criminal Division, in close collaboration with our team of
interagency and international partners, stand ready to leverage all our
resources to protect our communities through the pursuit of those who profit
from addiction, under the false belief that they are anonymous on the Darknet,”
said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division. “Only through a whole of government and,
in this case, global approach to tackling cyber-enabled drug trafficking can we
hope to achieve the significant results illustrated in Operation Dark HunTor.”
“The FBI continues to identify
and bring to justice drug dealers who believe they can hide their illegal
activity through the Darknet,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “Criminal
darknet markets exist so drug dealers can profit at the expense of others’
safety. The FBI is committed to working with our JCODE and EUROPOL law enforcement partners
to disrupt those markets and the borderless, worldwide trade in illicit drugs
they enable.”
“Today, we face new and
increasingly dangerous threats as drug traffickers expand into the digital
world and use the Darknet to sell dangerous drugs like fentanyl and
methamphetamine,” said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA). “These drug traffickers are flooding the United States
with deadly, fake pills, driving the U.S. overdose crisis, spurring violence,
and threatening the safety and health of American communities. DEA’s message
today is clear: criminal drug networks operating on the Darknet, trying to hide
from law enforcement, can no longer hide. DEA, the U.S. interagency, and our
valued international partners, are committed to dismantling drug networks
wherever they are, including on the Darknet.”
“Illicit darkweb marketplaces
represent a significant threat to public health, economic, and national
security,” said Acting Director Tae Johnson of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE). “By working collaboratively and sharing intelligence across
local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, Homeland
Security Investigations (HSI) and its partners are disrupting and dismantling
transnational criminal organizations responsible for introducing dangerous
narcotics and other contraband into our communities.”
“The dark web has become an
underground facilitator of illegal commerce,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary
Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). “Criminals use the
dark web to sell and ship narcotics and other dangerous goods around the world,
often relying on the postal system and private carriers to deliver these
illegal products. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to finding
and stopping these drug traffickers.”
“The Darknet no longer
provides a concealing cloak for criminals to operate,” said IRS Criminal
Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Jim Lee. “The expertise of our agents and law
enforcement partners helped uncover significant quantities of narcotics and
money — both cash and virtual currency — derived from illicit means.”
“The point of operations such
as the one today is to put criminals operating on the dark web on notice: the
law enforcement community has the means and global partnerships to unmask them
and hold them accountable for their illegal activities, even in areas of the
dark web,” said Europol’s Deputy Executive Director of Operations Jean-Philippe
Lecouffe.
The extensive operation, which
lasted 10 months, resulted in dozens of federal operations and prosecutions,
including:
Four search warrants were
executed in furtherance of a multiagency investigation resulting in the seizure
of approximately $1 million in drug proceeds (including approximately $700,000
in cryptocurrency), eight firearms, one vehicle, and various controlled
substances including MDMA, LSD, and cocaine. The FBI, DEA, Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), and USPIS jointly conducted the investigation. According
to court documents, the targets of the investigation were operating over
multiple Darknet marketplaces to traffic methamphetamine, counterfeit pressed
Adderall (containing methamphetamine), MDMA, cocaine, and ketamine to customers
throughout the United States. The investigation revealed that the
organization’s base of operations was in Houston, Texas, and the organization
shipped to various cities throughout the United States. Six defendants are
charged in a five-count indictment in the Southern District of Ohio with
conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled
substances, sale of counterfeit drugs, and conspiracy to commit money
laundering.
The FBI in conjunction with
the USPIS, FDA, and DEA, had been investigating a criminal enterprise that
operated two Darknet vendor accounts. One of the accounts was operated out of
the Miami area and the other out of the Providence, Rhode Island, area.
According to court documents, the vendors, Luis Spencer, 31, of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida; Olatunji Dawodu, 36, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Alex Ogando, 35,
of Providence, Rhode Island, allegedly advertised and sold pressed fentanyl
pills throughout the United States. Agents identified several other
co-conspirators and obtained search and arrest warrants for each. During the
execution of the warrants, agents seized approximately $770,000, one weapon and
approximately 3.5 kilograms of pressed fentanyl. Spencer, Dawodu, and Ogando
are charged in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams
or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.
Kevin Olando Ombisi, 32, and
Eric Bernard Russell Jr, 36, both of Katy, Texas, are alleged to have
participated in Darknet controlled substances trafficking activities using the
moniker Cardingmaster and are charged in a 10-count indictment in the Western
District of Tennessee with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances,
distribution of controlled substances, attempted unlawful distribution of
controlled substances, sale of counterfeit drugs, money laundering conspiracy,
and mail fraud.
According to court documents, Ombisi and Russell are alleged to
have used the moniker Cardingmaster and conspired and attempted to, and did
unlawfully distribute the Schedule II controlled substance methamphetamine,
which was falsely represented to be Adderall, through the mail in the Western
District of Tennessee and elsewhere. In conjunction with their arrests, the
government seized more than $5 million in assets alleged to be connected to the
drug trafficking activity. The case was investigated by the DEA, HSI, USPIS,
and the FDA, and is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section
and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.
An indictment and criminal complaint are merely
allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Operation Dark HunTor was a
collaborative initiative across JCODE members, including the Department of
Justice; FBI; DEA; USPIS; ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI);
IRS-Criminal Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF); Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the FDA’s Office of
Investigations. This operation was aided by non-operational supporting
participation from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Local, state, and other federal agencies
also contributed to Operation Dark HunTor investigations through task force
participation and regional partnerships. The investigations leading to
Operation Dark HunTor were significantly aided by support and coordination by
the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
(OCDETF), multi-agency Special Operations Division, the Criminal Division’s
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Money Laundering and Asset
Recovery Section’s Digital Currency Initiative, Narcotic and Dangerous Drug
Section, the Fraud Section, the Justice Department’s Office of International
Affairs, the National Cyber Joint Investigative Task Force (NCJITF), Europol
and its Dark Web team and international partners Eurojust, Australian Federal
Police (AFP), Bulgaria’s General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (Главна
дирекция Борба с организираната престъпност), France’s National Police (Police
National - OCLCTIC) and National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale – C3N),
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), Central Criminal
Investigation Department in the German city of Oldenburg (Zentrale
KriminaIinspektion Oldenburg), State Criminal Police Offices
(Landeskriminalämter), State Criminal Police Office of Lower Saxony (LKA
Niedersachsen), various police departments (Dienststellen der Länderpolizeien),
German Investigation Customs ( Zollfahndungsämter), Italy’s Finance Corps
(Guardia di Finanza) and Public Prosecutor’s Office Brescia, the Netherland’s
National Police (Politie), Switzerland’s Zurich Canton Police (Kantonspolizei
Zürich) and Public Prosecutor's Office II of the Canton of Zurich
(Staatsanwaltschaft II), and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA)
and NPCC.
Federal prosecutions are being
conducted in more than 15 federal districts, including the Central District of
California, the Eastern District of California, the Northern District of
California, the District of Columbia, the Southern District of Florida, the
District of Massachusetts, the District of Nebraska, the District of Nevada,
the Western District of New York, the Southern District of Ohio, the Northern
District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of
Virginia, the District of Rhode Island, the Western District of Tennessee, and
the Western District of Washington.
JCODE is an FBI-led Department
of Justice initiative, which supports, coordinates, and assists in
de-confliction of investigations targeting for disruption and dismantlement of
the online sale of illegal drugs, especially fentanyl and other opioids.
JCODE also targets the trafficking of weapons and other illicit goods and
services on the internet.
