European Law Enforcement Agencies Score a Success Against the Darknet Market ‘Archetyp Market’
A coordinated operation, spanning three days, has led to the takedown of the long-standing Darknet market, “Archetyp Market”. Europol announced the successful operation on Monday.
The operation, which took place between June 11 and 13, involved coordinated measures in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden. It targeted the administrator, moderators, key sellers and the technical infrastructure of the market. A total of around 300 law enforcement officials were involved in securing evidence.
The “Archetyp Market” had been active for over five years, with more than 600,000 users worldwide and a minimum of 250 million euros in sales. Notably, the market allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids, which is a cause for concern.
As a result of the operation, the market’s infrastructure in the Netherlands was shut down and the administrator, a 30-year-old German, was arrested in Barcelona. In Germany and Sweden, measures were taken against a moderator and six of the market’s top sellers, resulting in the seizure of assets valued at 7.8 million euros.
Europol’s Deputy Executive Director for Operations, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, stated that the shutdown of the market is the result of years of intense investigative work to map the technical architecture of the platform and identify the individuals behind it. Eurojust coordinated the legal steps and supported the investigations by organizing coordination meetings.