AlphaBay and Hansa Dark Web Raid News: Authorities Shut Down Online Markets for Cyber Fraud, Weapons and Drugs
The United States Justice Department announced on Thursday that they have successfully shut down the AlphaBay and Hansa dark web markets known for the online selling of cyber fraud tools, weapons, and illegal drugs.
The Justice Department referred to AlphaBay as "the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet" and was the "major source" of fentanyl and heroin.
"Around the time of takedown, there were over 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals on AlphaBay, and over 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services," the Justice Department added.
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The agency confirmed that AlphaBay's identified creator, Alexandre Cazes, was arrested on July 5. Cazes was a Canadian citizen who was known in the dark web by his codename Alpha02. He had been living in Thailand where he was arrested with the help of local police. However, Cazes reportedly committed suicide and was found dead in his prison cell in Thailand on July 12.
On June 1, over a month before his arrest, Cazes was charged in California with several counts of conspiracy linked to his activities as the administrator and creator of AlphaBay such as the trade of narcotics, fraudulent documents and device, money laundering and more.
AlphaBay was able to operate for two years before it was shut down this month. The U.S. Justice Department also noted that AlphaBay accommodated as much as 40,000 sellers and sold illegal and deadly items to more than 200,000 clients globally.
Ultimately, the raid of AlphaBay led to the shutdown of the Hansa marketplace — another cyber space where people could freely purchase all sorts of illegal items. The U.S. Justice Department gave credit to the efforts of the Dutch authorities as they helped to take down the Hansa marketplace site.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department also acknowledged the help it received from "law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, as well as the European law enforcement agency Europol" in cracking down the infamous AlphaBay.
