Major European drug-trading platform shuttered, operator held
'Archetyp Market' was one of the largest and longest-running criminal trading platforms on the darknet. (Freepik pic)
FRANKFURT : A major European drug-trading platform operating on the so-called darknet has been closed down and its main operator arrested following an international investigation, officials said today.
'Archetyp Market' was one of the 'largest and longest-running criminal trading platforms on the darknet', with at least €250 million of illegal narcotics sold through the site, said German prosecutors, who played a key role in the probe.
The site, active for over five years, offered drugs ranging from cannabis to heroin and cocaine, with payment made exclusively in cryptocurrency.
It was also one of the only platforms to offer fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, which have driven an epidemic of deadly overdoses in the US, according to the EU anti-crime bodies Europol and Eurojust, which coordinated the investigation.
When it was closed, the site had more than 600,000 user accounts and around 3,200 vendors, they said.
Several hundred officials across five European countries targeted people allegedly involved in running the site as well as servers during raids between June 11 and 13, the EU bodies said.
The site's alleged founder and operator, a 30-year-old German citizen, was arrested in Barcelona, according to German officials.
The servers used to run the site were then targeted and shut down by police in the Netherlands, and a further seven arrests were made in Sweden.
Assets worth around €7.8 million were seized, as well as other pieces of evidence including computers and phones.
The 'darknet' includes websites that can be accessed only with specific software or authorisations, ensuring anonymity for users.
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