Global Darknet Drug Crackdown Nets 270 Arrests $200M Seized

Operation RapTor, a global darknet drug crackdown, resulted in the arrest of 270 individuals and the seizure of over $200 million in cash and digital assets. This coordinated effort, led by the U.S. JCODE team and Europol, targeted illicit fentanyl and opioid sales across online black markets. The operation spanned four continents, with significant contributions from law enforcement agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and South Korea.

Investigators recovered over two metric tons of drugs, including 144 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced substances, and 180 firearms. The success of Operation RapTor was bolstered by intelligence gathered from previous darknet marketplace shutdowns, such as Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets. This data provided crucial leads, helping authorities identify and track down darknet vendors and their customers globally.

Key convictions include Rui-Siang Lin, the operator of Incognito Market, who pleaded guilty in New York City. Incognito Market, a major darknet hub, handled over $100 million in illicit drug sales between 2020 and 2024. In California, two men received prison sentences of 17 and 15 years for selling fentanyl-laced pills to over 1,000 people through darknet sites.

In Virginia, three darknet vendors were apprehended for distributing counterfeit Adderall containing methamphetamine. Federal agents seized $330,000 in cash, industrial pill press machines, and nearly 110,000 fake pills. Additionally, Brian McDonald of California was sentenced to 20 years in prison for using various darknet aliases to distribute fentanyl and cocaine nationwide, with at least one confirmed overdose death linked to his operation.

The extensive cooperation between numerous agencies and international partners was crucial to the success of Operation RapTor. In the U.S., support came from the DEA, FBI, IRS-CI, HSI, USPIS, and the FDA OCI. Internationally, Europol and national police forces across ten countries played vital roles. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also imposed sanctions on Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, identified as the operator of the Nemesis marketplace.

Federal authorities reported that 26 different U.S. Attorneys’ Offices were involved in related prosecutions, highlighting the broad international coalition backing this massive darknet disruption. Operation RapTor is hailed as a significant advancement in combating sophisticated criminal outfits that exploit the anonymity of the dark web to sell fentanyl and opioids.