Operation RapTor Smashes Global Darknet Drug Rings, Nabs 270 Suspects In Major Fentanyl Sting

• Operation RapTor, a global darknet drug crackdown, resulted in 270 arrests and $200M+ seized.
• The U.S. JCODE team and Europol led the multi-continent operation targeting fentanyl and opioids.
• Key convictions include Incognito Market operator Rui-Siang Lin pleading guilty in New York City.

Global authorities just delivered a major hit to the darknet drug trade. A sprawling law enforcement crackdown, dubbed Operation RapTor , zeroed in on illicit fentanyl and opioid sales across online black markets, leading to the arrest of 270 individuals worldwide. The coordinated sting also pulled in more than $200 million in cash and digital assets

This massive undertaking stretched across four continents, with investigators working together in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and South Korea. Officials announced they recovered over two metric tons of drugs, a haul that included a hefty 144 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced substances, alongside some 180 firearms.

Operation RapTor’s Global Sweep: Coordinated Raids Hit Drug Networks

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team spearheaded this international initiative, teaming up closely with Europol and numerous law enforcement agencies throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. Officials are calling Operation RapTor the most successful JCODE effort yet, both in terms of the sheer amount of contraband seized and the number of suspects apprehended.

A smart play in the operation involved using intelligence gathered from previous darknet marketplace shutdowns. Data from dismantled sites like Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets gave authorities crucial leads, helping them identify and track down darknet vendors and their customers across the globe.

Major Arrests and Stiff Sentences Follow Coordinated Busts

Word of successful prosecutions tied to Operation RapTor is already coming in from multiple U.S. federal districts. Down in California, two men were handed stiff prison sentences of 17 and 15 years for peddling fentanyl-laced pills to over 1,000 people through darknet sites.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York also landed a key conviction, securing a guilty plea from Rui-Siang Lin. Lin was the operator of Incognito Market, a major darknet hub that, between 2020 and 2024, handled over $100 million in illicit drug sales.

Related: Crypto Crackdown in South Korea: Upbit Suspended, Bithumb Investigated, Overseas Exchanges Face Action

Over in Virginia, three darknet vendors got their due for pushing more than 13,000 drug shipments all over the U.S. They were caught distributing counterfeit Adderall which actually contained methamphetamine. When federal agents moved in, they seized $330,000 in cash, industrial pill press machines, and nearly 110,000 fake pills. 

In another significant case, Brian McDonald of California copped a 20-year sentence after admitting he used various darknet aliases to sling fentanyl and cocaine nationwide. Tragically, investigators linked at least one confirmed overdose death directly to his operation.

Broad International Coalition Backs Massive Darknet Disruption

The far-reaching success of Operation RapTor hinged on extensive cooperation between numerous agencies and international partners. In the U.S., crucial support came from the DEA, FBI, IRS-CI, HSI, USPIS, and the FDA OCI. On the international front, Europol and national police forces across ten countries were vital to the effort. 

Related: India’s Crypto Tax Crackdown vs. China’s Innovation Push—Is India Falling Behind?

Adding another layer of pressure, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also slapped sanctions on Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, identified as the operator of the Nemesis marketplace.

Federal authorities reported that 26 different U.S. Attorneys’ Offices were involved in related prosecutions. They hailed Operation RapTor as a major leap forward in tackling sophisticated criminal outfits that try to hide their fentanyl and opioid sales under the veil of dark web anonymity.