Security News > 2021 > January > World’s largest dark-web marketplace shuttered after Euro cybercops cuff Aussie

Europol cops have taken down dark-web souk DarkMarket, after arresting an Australian citizen living in Germany who they claim was operating the world's biggest online bazaar of its kind.

DarkMarket had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 sellers, an official announcement from Europol on Tuesday said, calling it the "World's largest largest illegal marketplace on the dark web."

Europol said the investigation had been led by a specialist cybercrime unit based in Koblenz, in the west of the country, with the cops in Oldenburg - in the north-west of Germany - carrying out the arrest, even though the city is some distance from the Danish border.

Coordination went further than that: at the same time as the alleged operator of the marketplace was arrested, more German police helped local cops in Moldova and Ukraine track down more than 20 servers that contained the marketplace and which will now be used to "Further investigate moderators, sellers, and buyers."

For years, the cops have been building international coalitions to deal with the issue and have been making steady progress in recent years.

In this case, Europol is keen to point to its dedicated Dark Web Team which works to coordinate cops across different countries as well as inside and outside the European Union.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/01/13/darkmarket_europol_shutdown/