FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen announced that Operation DisrupTOR led to nearly 120 arrests in connection with online drug sales and trafficking on the darknet.
Operation targeting Darknet drug traffickers nets dozes of arrest worldwide, officials say
Written Content from Kristine Phillips USA Today
WASHINGTON – Federal officials have arrested and charged dozens of people believed to have trafficked drugs in the USA and other countries through Darknet sites, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Investigators have seized more than $6.5 million in cash and virtual currencies, as well as 500 kilograms of drugs worldwide, including more than 200 kilograms of heroin, cocaine, and various kinds of opioids – a haul that officials said made a significant dent in online drug trafficking.
Darknet sites, which exist on encrypted networks and aren’t easily accessible, have enabled drug traffickers to create a new kind of “criminal underworld” that allowed them to sell and advertise from anywhere in the world, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said
“For an increasing number of young addicts, opioids are purchased not from local dealers but from pushers online,” Rosen said. “Hiding behind anonymizing software known as Tor, a new sort of drug kingpin now is able to reach more buyers than ever before, through online marketplaces peddling every sort of illicit good and service imaginable.”
The announcement comes as the coronavirus pandemic has fueled the country’s opioid crisis, with several states reporting more fatal overdoses in the past few months. FBI Director Christopher Wray said drug traffickers have increasingly leveraged Darknet sites as the virus took hold in the country.
“With the spike in opioid-related overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognize that today’s announcement is important and timely,” Wray said. Read more from USA Today
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