In the framework of the joint operation of the Federal Criminal Police of Germany, the prosecutor's office and Europol, the Wall Street Market dark-marketplace servers were discovered and confiscated. Three arrests were also made.
When blow to illegal Double Room dark of web Marketplaces: the Wall Street General Market and Silkkitie (Valhalla) shut down the after global law enforcement Coordinated by the Operations @bka @SuomenTulli and supported by @Europol . All the details here: https://t.co/XiXTLKTYAq pic.twitter.com/I9d3yVg1p9
– Europol (@Europol) May 3, 2019
According to a Europol press release, German law enforcement officers seized 550 thousand euros in cash, a six-figure amount in Bitcoin and Monero, several cars, computers, hard drives and other evidence from the alleged site operators.
Note, the Wall Street Market user base is 1.15 million people, of which 5,400 are listed as sellers of drugs, stolen data, forged documents and malicious software. 63 thousand offers were placed on the site, which made this market the second largest on the darknet, probably after the Dream Market.
At the same time, the Finnish customs officers closed the dark marketplace Silkkitie (or Valhalla), which has been active on Tor since 2013. Militiamen also managed to withdraw a significant amount of bitcoins, according to the Helsinki Times .
The international operation was also attended by the National Police of the Netherlands, Eurojust, the FBI, the United States Internal Revenue Service, the United States Postal Service, the US Department of Justice, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DCA) and the United States Department of Homeland Security.
pic.twitter.com/8WoLH6qxzd
– Europol (@Europol) May 3, 2019
“These investigations have demonstrated how important law enforcement cooperation at the international level is. The illegal activities on the darknet are not as anonymous as the criminals believe , ”said Europol executive director Catherine de Boll.
Recall, after the suspension of trading on the Dream Market, many users migrated to the Wall Street Market, but soon there were rumors that the latter intends to arrange an exit-scam and assign funds to users. Some even reported that one of the administrators of the site was blackmailing them, threatening to merge personal data to law enforcement officers. The potential losses of the clients of the site were then estimated at $ 30 million.
In mid-April, the District Prosecutor's Office of Manhattan reported the arrest of three representatives of the Sinmed group, the largest seller of narcotic drugs on the Dream Market.
Bitcoin on Silk Road brought the darknet economy to a new level, but over the past years, marketplaces in the deep web have been disappearing one by one. What is the reason for the extinction of such a profitable, albeit illegal business? https://t.co/tFFrFc3wc1 # darknet # bitcoin pic.twitter.com/drOIkaoeN1
– BlockchainJournal (@BlockchainJournal) May 1, 2019
At the end of March, observers of life in the deep web suggested that this darknet market was already under the control of law enforcement agencies, and urged users to no longer log in to their accounts.
Add, according to the report Chainalysis analyst firm, trading activity in the darknet has grown twice only for 2018, and the annual output has exceeded $ 600 million in the BTC-equivalent.
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