• Press Releases
    • Submit a press release
    • Read All
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
Crypto.com Logo Crypto.com Logo
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance
Breaking News: Breaking: SEC Sues Binance And CEO For Alleged Securities Fraud
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
Breaking News: Breaking: SEC Sues Binance And CEO For Alleged Securities Fraud
Illicit Betting With Cryptocurrency

$5.2 Million in Cryptocurrency Seized in EU’s Largest LSD Raid

Austin Kennedy by Austin Kennedy
5 years ago
in News, Altcoin News, Bitcoin, News teaser
0

European law enforcement agencies dismantled a Darknet drug trafficking network, seizing almost 800,000 doses of LSD and over $5 million in Bitcoin, IOTA, and Lumens.


The Infamous ‘Darknet’

The Deep Web or the “Darknet” gained a lot of notoriety back in 2013 when the United States FBI took down the Internet’s largest online black market and drug trafficking ring known as The Silk Road after an extended manhunt for the site’s libertarian creator, Ross William Ulbricht.

Ulbricht, better known by his deep web pseudonym, “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was charged with narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering after his arrest at the Glen Park Branch Library in San Francisco on October 1, 2013. The FBI seized 144,336 Bitcoins during the Silk Road bust, which they auctioned for a meager $48 million.

Headlines about the Darknet dissipated shortly after the investigation, leaving people to assume that Darknet operations had either vanished entirely or become much smaller than they were during the Silk Road’s heyday.

The Silk Road Lives On

The Silk Road Lives On

On June 28, however, a very similar story made headlines across Europe as the Spanish Guardia Civil and the Austrian Federal Police, supported by Europol, seized more than $5 million in cryptocurrencies from yet another deep web drug ring. According to an article from the EU Reporter, over 100 different types of psychoactive drugs, including nearly 800,000 doses of LSD, were seized from two different laboratories in Granada and Valencia, Spain.

Eight individuals were arrested on accusations of arranging a criminal organization for drug trafficking and money laundering. The organized crime group was shipping drugs out of Spain to at least 100 countries since 2012, disguising the drugs as legal products such as cement additives.

The raw materials for the psychoactive substances were imported from Asian countries to a laboratory in Amsterdam, Netherlands, which acted as the primary production facility for the crime group. They then shipped the products to the laboratories in Spain, where they were packaged and distributed to consumers across the globe.

Among the substances that were distributed were various forms of LSD, synthetic marijuana, nootropics, and synthetic opiates. The drugs were offered through exclusive Darknet websites that accepted new users only by referral.

It is increasingly apparent that so long as there remains a global demand for illicit drugs, Darknet markets will continue to sprout, and the cat and mouse game between law enforcement and drug traffickers will persist.

Will drug busts like these deter Darknet markets from continuing operations, or only force them to get smarter? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!


Image courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives

ShareTweetShareShare

Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.

I consent to my submitted data being collected and stored.

Austin Kennedy

Austin Kennedy

Related Posts

Rare satoshis

Rare Satoshis: The Rising Star In Crypto After BTC-20 And Meme Coins?

12 mins ago
Bitcoin Whale Shark

Bitcoin Sharks & Whales Have Bought 93,000 BTC Since April Top: Santiment

1 week ago
Bitcoin

BREAKING: Bitcoin Mining Industry Spared From 30% Tax In US Debt Ceiling Deal

1 week ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Taker Buy Sell Ratio At Highest Since Feb, What Does It Mean?

1 week ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Shrimps Continue Aggressive Accumulation As Holdings Hit ATH

1 week ago
Bitcoin Bull

Bitcoin Bullish Signal: Exchange Netflow Registers Negative Spike

2 weeks ago
Please login to join discussion

Premium Partners

Premium Casino Partners

Play Finance

Now Trending

  • Whale Power Unleashed: Mooky Emerges as the Rival Meme Coin...

    5 days ago
  • Exploring the Meteoric Rise of Mooky: Could It Be the Next...

    5 days ago
  • Discover the Next Big Thing: Mooky.io Presale Boasting Fair...

    5 days ago

Top Casinos

Trust Dice
Trust Dice
Punt Casino
Punt Casino
mBit
mBit
1xBit
1xBit
K8
K8

Press Releases

  • Double The Value of Your Crypto Portfolio This Summer...

    7 mins ago
  • AiDoge Presale Hits $12 Million, but Could Chancer Be the...

    1 hour ago
  • How Avorak AI and Ethereum Are Gaining a Foothold in Asian...

    2 hours ago
  • Look For Opportunities With Uwerx(WERX) Presale And...

    2 hours ago
  • PancakeSwap (CAKE) Gains, Sparklo (SPRK) To Enter Top 100...

    3 hours ago

Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.

Bitcoin

  • News
  • Price
  • Businesses
  • Acceptance
  • Technology
  • Investment
  • Regulation
  • Reviews

Altcoins

  • News
  • Price
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Litecoin
  • EOS
  • NAGA

Categories

  • Blockchain
  • Security
  • FinTech
  • Technology
  • Trending
  • Breaking News
  • Press Releases
  • How to

Pages

  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Advertise
© 2023 Bitcoinist.com. All Rights Reserved.
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance

© 2023 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.