Law Enforcement Seize Record Amounts of Illegal Drugs, Firearms, and Drug Trafficking Proceeds in International Operation Against Darknet Trafficking of Fentanyl and Opioids; 270 Arrested Across Four
Operation RapTor was a globally coordinated law enforcement takedown of darknet drug traffickers and marketplaces
Operation RapTor: A Global Crackdown on Darknet Drug Trafficking
The U.S. Department of Justice press release of May 22, 2025, announced the results of Operation RapTor, a sweeping international law enforcement effort that targeted the world of darknet ( aka darkweb) drug trafficking. Led by the DOJ’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team in coordination with Europol and authorities from ten countries, the operation resulted in 270 arrests and the seizure of over $200 million in assets. It is arguably the largest and most impactful takedown in JCODE’s history.
The operation involved law enforcement agencies from Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It targeted darknet vendors, buyers, and site administrators operating on anonymous networks that specialize in the sale of narcotics, weapons, forged documents, and other contraband.
Authorities seized 144 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced substances—enough to kill millions. The total haul included more than two metric tons of narcotics and 180 firearms. Authorities stressed that this kind of coordinated international action is crucial in combating synthetic opioids, which continue to fuel record levels of overdose deaths in the United States and abroad. Drug sales on the darknet are invariably international in scope.
Operation RapTor builds on earlier takedowns of darknet marketplaces—including Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Market—from which investigators gained valuable intelligence. In one high-profile case, U.S. authorities indicted and sanctioned Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national accused of operating Nemesis Market. These coordinated efforts enabled law enforcement to map criminal activity across multiple darknet platforms and jurisdictions.
One of the most significant prosecutions to emerge from the operation is that of Rui-Siang Lin, who ran Incognito Market, a major darknet drug marketplace that operated from 2020 to 2024 and facilitated more than $100 million in illicit drug sales. The site functioned like a typical e-commerce platform—complete with search tools and vendor ratings—but sold heroin, meth, cocaine, LSD, and counterfeit prescription drugs to a global customer base. Undercover DEA agents purchased pills labeled as oxycodone, which lab testing revealed to be fentanyl-laced counterfeits—the kind that kill unsuspecting young people. Lin pleaded guilty in December 2024 to multiple federal charges, including narcotics conspiracy and money laundering.
Investigators also carried out domestic enforcement actions tied to the case. In New Jersey and New York, agents recovered over $330,000 in cash, more than 80,000 counterfeit Adderall pills, a firearm, and industrial pill presses. In a separate New York raid in May 2024, authorities seized another 30 kilograms of suspected fake Adderall, underscoring the industrial scale of these operations.
The darknet—accessible only through anonymity-preserving software like the Tor browser—hosts thousands of illicit marketplaces where users can purchase narcotics, weapons, forged documents, and hacking tools using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Monero, and Litecoin. While darknet users often assume they’re anonymous and untouchable, operations like RapTor show that law enforcement has the tools, intelligence, and international coordination necessary to find and arrest even deeply embedded actors in the digital underground.
One of the most disturbing trends that drives this enforcement effort is the proliferation of counterfeit prescription pills, often sold as Xanax, Adderall, or OxyContin but secretly laced with fentanyl. These pills are widely purchased by young people who believe they’re taking a legitimate pharmaceutical, only to overdose and die. Just two milligrams of fentanyl—about the size of a few grains of salt—can be fatal. According to federal officials, the drugs seized in Operation RapTor had the potential to cause tens of millions of lethal overdoses.
This operation underscores a clear message: the darknet is not beyond the reach of law enforcement. Global cooperation, persistent investigation, and technological expertise have enabled law enforcement to strike major blows against the infrastructure of online narcotics trafficking. As synthetic opioids continue to devastate communities, Operation RapTor represents a critical initiative in the fight against one of the most insidious and evolving threats to public health and safety.
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Britannica: darknet or darkweb, an encrypted network within the Internet that can be accessed only by specialized software or certain software configurations, such as the Tor software and browser. Darknet services allow users to remain anonymous online and are often, but not always, associated with illegal activity.