A global cyber crime investigation led by US and European officials has shut down Alphabay and Hansa Market, illegal marketplaces on the so-called dark web that conducted transactions worth tens of millions of dollars a month in recreational drugs, stolen credit card numbers, and weapons.
The move is the biggest international strike against online marketplaces that deal in illegal goods — Alphabay was the largest in the world and Hansa Market the third-largest. It was carried out by dozens of government agencies across the US, the Netherlands, Thailand, Canada, the UK, France and others.
“They managed to catch the biggest fish in the sea,” says Nicolas Christin, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies the marketplaces.