Europol announced on Monday that Archetyp Market, one of the longest-running dark web drug marketplaces, has been targeted by law enforcement in an international operation.
Archetyp was shut down as a result of actions carried out by law enforcement between June 11 and 13. Authorities in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania and Sweden participated in the operation that targeted people and technical infrastructure.
Police worked to identify administrators, moderators and key vendors. A 30-year-old German national suspected of being the site’s administrator has been arrested in Spain. Authorities in Germany and Sweden targeted one moderator and six of the biggest vendors.
In addition to the Archetyp website getting taken down, investigators managed to identify and seize €7.8 million ($9 million) in assets.
“The takedown follows years of intensive investigative work to map the platform’s technical architecture and identify the individuals behind it,” Europol said.
“By tracing financial flows, analysing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground, authorities were able to deliver a decisive blow to one of the most prolific drug markets on the dark web,” it added.
Archetyp provided a platform for the trade of drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA, and synthetic opioids.
While Archetyp was only used to buy and sell drugs, law enforcement has targeted several marketplaces in recent months that also offered cybercrime tools and services. The list of targeted dark web markets included Nemesis, BlackDB.cc and BidenCash.
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