In a large-scale law enforcement bust, two of the dark web's largest drug marketplaces, AlphaBay and Hansa Market, have been taken down, according to The Verge.
In a Europol announcement, AlphaBay was said to have hosted up to a billion dollars in transactions since 2014. Most of the transactions involved drugs and fraudulent I.D. sales. By the time it collapsed, the site had reached over 200,000 users, 40,000 vendors, and around $4 million in Bitcoin payments stored in escrow wallets through the site.
Attorney General Jeff Session said of the takedown operation, "This is one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year."
Although the DOJ only recently made a public announcement on the case, AlphaBay's demise has been rumored for weeks. The site was taken down around the midnight hours of July 4, giving users only a "site timed out" page unlike the official seizure notice that has been seen before during other similar site takedowns.
While some users speculated the site owners had an exit strategy for any type of shutdown, a Wall Street Journal report proved that the site was, in fact, shut down by law enforcement personnel.
During the same general time frame, a Canadian national named Alexander Cazes was was taken into custody by Thai authorities on behalf of the U.S. for his role in starting and running AlphaBay. His indictment involved the seizure of over $5 million in Bitcoin, $1.8 million in Ethereum, and $760,000 in Zcash, and finally bank accounts with unknown values. The seizure also extended to some of Cazes vehicles and real estate properties.
He was later found dead in his cell a week later.
The Hansa Market had remained online after AlphaBay's demise, and it looks like it may have been coordinated by authorities. Following AlphaBay's takedown, Hansa's user numbers increased by 8 times, allowing the police to track its customer case and collect up to 10,000 addresses of Europeans who use the site.
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