WASHINGTON, DC (LOOTPRESS) – In a landmark international crackdown on dark web drug trafficking, the U.S. Department of Justice, in coordination with its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team and global law enforcement partners, announced the results of Operation RapTor. The operation led to the arrests of 270 individuals in 10 countries and marked the largest darknet enforcement action to date.
Operation RapTor targeted fentanyl and opioid trafficking as well as other illicit activities on the dark web. Authorities seized over $200 million in cash and digital assets, more than two metric tons of narcotics—including over 144 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced substances—and 180 firearms.
The arrests spanned across Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The coordinated effort involved extensive intelligence sharing, darknet infrastructure takedowns, and criminal indictments.
Among those charged was Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, the alleged operator of Nemesis Market, which was seized during the operation. Parsarad was indicted in Ohio for drug trafficking and sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Major Cases Highlighted
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Rui-Siang Lin, who ran the now-defunct Incognito Market, pleaded guilty in New York to running a $100 million dark web narcotics operation that sold everything from cocaine to counterfeit oxycodone. Undercover agents found fentanyl in pills falsely marketed as oxycodone.
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In California, Adan Ruiz and Omar Navia were sentenced to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for distributing fentanyl-laced pills via darknet to over 1,000 customers nationwide, causing several fatal overdoses.
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In Virginia, Joshua and Joseph Vasquez and Rafael Roman were convicted of running a counterfeit Adderall operation, selling methamphetamine-laced pills on markets like Bohemia and Tor2Door. They collectively fulfilled more than 13,000 drug orders and were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
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Brian McDonald of San Fernando Valley was sentenced to over 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl and cocaine through multiple darknet marketplaces. He admitted responsibility for one fatal overdose and used various aliases to hide his identity.
Law Enforcement Statements
Attorney General Pam Bondi described the operation as a “historic international seizure” that will save lives. FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized that darknet traffickers can no longer hide behind technology: “The ease and accessibility of their crimes ends today.”
DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy called the dark web drug dealers “predators” and said Operation RapTor “ripped their networks apart.” Europol’s cybercrime head Edvardas Šileris added, “The dark web is not beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco called the takedown “the most impactful to date,” while ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said the operation “cracked the code of the so-called ‘safe spaces’ for cybercriminals.”
A Global Coalition
The operation was the result of collaboration among U.S. agencies—including the FBI, DEA, FDA, HSI, IRS-CI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service—and international partners such as Europol, Eurojust, and law enforcement bodies in 10 countries.
Cases are being prosecuted across 26 federal jurisdictions in the United States, with support from multiple DOJ divisions, including the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.
JCODE, led by the FBI, was created to dismantle darknet criminal enterprises and opioid trafficking networks. Operation RapTor is its most successful operation to date.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
