During an international law enforcement operation codenamed “SpecTor”, 288 drug dealers and buyers from around the world were arrested. This is reported by Bleeping Computer.

Police also seized €50.8 million ($55.9 million) in cash and cryptocurrency as part of the operation. The suppliers worked on the so-called “Monopoly Market”, which was launched in 2019. Here they sold drugs in exchange for Bitcoin and Monero. Later, the law enforcement officers closed the website of the illegal business.

According to Europol, German authorities seized Monopoly Market data and used it to gather evidence about sellers and customers who bought and sold drugs on the site.

“Europol has been compiling intelligence packages based on troves of evidence provided by German authorities, who successfully seized the marketplace’s criminal infrastructure in December 2021,” reads Europol’s public notice.

It also added that the information gathered served as the basis for hundreds of national investigations.

“The vendors arrested as a result of the police action against Monopoly Market were also active on other illicit marketplaces, further impeding the trade of drugs and illicit goods on the dark web,” Europol added.

During SpecTor Operation, the police confiscated 850 kg of drugs and 117 firearms. Most of the arrested sellers and buyers live in the US (153), the UK (55), and Germany (52). Arrests also took place in the Netherlands (10) and Austria (9).

We will remind you that in 2020 the operation DisrupTor was carried out. Then 179 arrests were made. And in 2021, during the Dark HunTor operation, the police exposed 150 service providers on the darknet.