A global multi-agency operation on four continents targeted darknet drug trafficking and led to 270 arrests and the seizure of drugs and cryptocurrency.
In Operation RapTor, participating law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia arrested 270 darknet vendors, buyers, and administrators. The darknet is a portion of the internet that is not indexed by traditional search engines and is only accessible through specialized software.
More than 144 kilograms (approximately 317 pounds) of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics and over 180 firearms were seized in this year’s operation, which included arrests in Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Just one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people, according to the DEA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the U.S.
“This historic international seizure of firearms, deadly drugs, and illegal funds will save lives,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Criminals cannot hide behind computer screens or seek refuge on the dark web – this Justice Department will identify and eliminate threats to the American people regardless of where they originate.”
The FBI, which established JCODE in 2018 to target drug trafficking—particularly of fentanyl and other opioids—on the darknet, has coordinated global law enforcement operations like RapTor every year since the initiative’s inception.
“By cowardly hiding online, these traffickers have wreaked havoc across our country and directly fueled the fentanyl crisis and gun violence impacting our American communities and neighborhoods,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “But the ease and accessibility of their crimes ends today.”
Darknet marketplaces may look familiar to online shoppers. There are shopping carts, thousands of products, sales promotions, and customer reviews. But instead of food, clothes or furniture, the sites’ menus direct customers to products like cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and other illegal drugs.
“It’s not like when you’re dealing with your local neighborhood dealer or even a cartel member,” said Aaron Pinder, unit chief of the Hi-Tech Organized Crime Unit at FBI Headquarters, which runs JCODE. “The darknet vendors that we investigate, they truly operate on a global scale in their ability to reach and sell drugs to customers out there.”
The marketplaces are accessed through software that claims to make the buyer and seller anonymous. Drug users anywhere in the world can buy narcotics on their phones or computers without having to risk a face-to-face interaction.
The JCODE team’s mission includes educating people about the risks involved in purchasing drugs on the darknet. One of the biggest lessons is getting potential buyers to understand that they have no real assurance that they are getting what they think they are buying. Many drugs sold on the darknet are laced with fentanyl, which can be fatal for some buyers.
“One of the things that makes a darknet marketplace so dangerous in the eyes of law enforcement is the fact that it’s such an easy to use platform,” said Katie Brenden, an analyst on the JCODE team. “There’s a lot that is put into place that makes it appear to be legitimate, when what’s really happening is there are people in garages or basements that are using pill presses to make their own pills and sell them online across the country and sometimes across the world.”
“We’re trying to keep people safe,” said Special Agent Pinder. “The FBI mission statement is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. And that’s ultimately what JCODE is about. We have become very adept at identifying the individuals behind these marketplaces, no matter what role they’re in, whether they’re an administrator or a vendor, a money launderer, or indeed a buyer.”
Operation RapTor involves law enforcement actions taken by JCODE member agencies, including the DEA, FBI, FDA OCI, HSI, IRS-CI, and USPIS. Credible reporting from the referenced agencies, in addition to contributions from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Army Criminal Investigation Division, Customs and Border Protection, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and OFAC, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service, enabled domestic law enforcement actions in support of Operation RapTor. State, local, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation RapTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships, as well as the multi-agency Special Operations Division.
The investigations leading to Operation RapTor were significantly aided by support and coordination from the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, with valuable assistance from the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Fraud Section, and Office of International Affairs.
Key international partners include Europol; Eurojust; Austria’s Criminal Intelligence Service with various Provincial Criminal Police Departments (Bundeskriminalamt und Landeskriminalämter); Brazil’s Civil Police of the State of Pará (Polícia Civil do Estado do Pará) and Civil Police of the State of São Paulo (Polícia Civil do Estado do São Paulo); France’s French Customs (Douane), National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale); Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), Prosecutor’s Office in Cologne – Central Cybercrime Contact Point (Staatsanwaltschaft Köln, Zentral- und Ansprechstelle Cybercrime), Central Criminal Investigation in Oldenburg (Zentrale Kriminalinspektion Oldenburg) various police departments (Dienststellen der Länderpolizeien), and German Customs Investigation (Zollfahndungsämter); the Netherlands’ Team High Tech Crime (National Investigations and Special Operations (NIS) and Post Interventie Team (PIT), National Intelligence, Expertise and Operational Support (NIEO); Spain’s National Police (Policía Nacional); South Korea’s Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office – Darknet Investigations Unit; Switzerland’s Zurich Cantonal 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), National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Federal investigations spanned the United States, and 26 United States Attorneys’ Offices are prosecuting cases, including the Central District of California, the Northern District of California, the Southern District of California, the District of Colorado, the District of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, the Middle District of Florida, the Southern District of Florida, the Middle District of Georgia, the District of Hawaii, the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of Indiana, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the District of Massachusetts, the Eastern District of Michigan, the Western District of Michigan, the Eastern District of Missouri, the District of New Jersey, the Southern District of New York, the District of North Dakota, the Northern District of Ohio, the Southern District of Ohio, the Northern District of Oklahoma, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Western District of Washington.
