Sixty-one people have been arrested and $4.5 million in cryptocurrency seized in a joint operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that targeted drug dealing on the Darknet.

Operation SaboTor, a play of the words sabotage and Tor, the software used to access the darknet, was undertaken by the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team from Jan. 11 to March 12. It involved a series of raids in an effort to bring down online drug dealing.

Other government bodies involved in the operation included the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Justice and the Department of Defense. Given the nature of drug trade on the darknet, a shady part of the internet reachable only with Tor software, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known as Europol, also participated in the investigation.

Some 65 search warrants were executed, with authorities seizing 299.5 kilograms of drugs, 51 firearms and more than $7 million consisting of $4.5 million in cryptocurrency, $2.48 million in cash and $40,000 in gold.

“Law enforcement is most effective when we work together, and J-CODE is the global tip of the spear in the fight against online opioid trafficking,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Criminals have always adopted innovations and new technologies to achieve their illicit goals, and it’s our job to adapt and remain ahead of the threat.”

Fifty darknet accounts associated with online criminal activity were shut down at the same time. But as has been seen time and time again, the FBI and others are seemingly playing a game of Whack-A-Mole as alternative sites on the darknet quickly take the place of those removed.

That’s not the message being shared by law enforcement, however.

“The darkweb is not as dark as you think,” Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle noted. “When you buy or sell illegal goods online, you are not hidden from law enforcement and you are putting yourself in danger. This international coordinated approach demonstrates law enforcement’s determination to tackle crime on the darknet and to reduce the number of people who fall victim to criminals selling life-endangering products or scamming them for their own gain.”

Previous international takedowns of darknet sites include Alphabay in 2017.

Photo: FBI