A multinational operation involving law enforcement authorities from six countries has taken down Archetyp Market, an online dark web drug marketplace active since at least May 2020. The website had amassed nearly 612,000 users before being taken down, with a transaction value of approximately $289 million in Monero transactions with nearly 17,000 listings over five years of activity.
The operation ended with the Dutch police taking down the site’s infrastructure. One moderator and six of the site’s biggest vendors were arrested in Germany and Sweden. Additionally, 47 smartphones, 45 computers, and various drugs and assets worth over €7.8 million were seized from all suspects involved. The site’s administrator is a suspected German national who was captured in Spain.
A total of 300 officers were deployed to carry out the operation and secure critical evidence. This included officers from Germany, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
The strike was carried out as part of the larger Operation Deep Sentinel, led by the German police and supported by Europol and Eurojust. Europol sums the operation by claiming it was the result of “years of intensive investigative work,” and authorities were able to “deliver a decisive blow to one of the most prolific drug markets on the dark web.”
As mentioned before, Archetyp was active since at least May 2020 and dealt in high volumes of drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, and synthetic opioids. The platform’s scale was comparable to the infamous and now-defunct Silk Road and Dream Market websites.
During the operation, police in Europe, South America, Asia, and the US also tracked down and seized more than 2 tonnes of hard drugs, over 180 firearms, and over €184 million, or roughly $207 million in cash and crypto.
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