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Police caught a man and a woman allegedly running a big dark web drug operation worth around $1.2 million.
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The account allegedly handled 2,800 transactions involving 13 different drug types over a period of nine months.
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Authorities seized drugs, $55,000 cash, and warn that dark web vendors are “not invisible” to law enforcement.
New Zealand authorities have pulled the curtain back on a major dark web drug operation. Two people are now in custody after a months-long investigation into a high-volume online drug market account.
Police say the alleged scheme was anything but small-time. It moved an estimated $1.2 million in illegal substances through the country’s largest dark web server.
Police Bust Targets a Big Online Drug Vendor
Sergeant Reece Sirl was in charge of Operation Laver. This operation is a police initiative targeting online drug suppliers. The team set their sights on one user who stood out for their sheer activity level.
“We targeted a prolific user on the country’s largest dark web server,” Sirl explained. The investigation went on for nine months, from last June to March this year, during which the account processed about 2,800 drug transactions.
It became clear how big the operation was when police tallied the numbers. “We estimate the value of these transactions to be around $1.2 million,” Sirl said. Additionally, he mentioned that the transactions involved about 13 different kinds of drugs, meth, cocaine, MDMA, GBL, and ketamine inclusive.
Property Raids and Massive Seizure
That entire operation happened last week when cops got warrants to search a countryside property north of Auckland. Officers didn’t just find evidence of past sales; they walked into an active drug distribution hub.
Police located a range of drugs in various stages of preparation for distribution. They seized around $55,000 in cash, probably proceeds from the online drug deals.
After the bust, two individuals, a man and a woman aged 35 and 32 respectively, were arrested. They’ll be appearing before the North Shore District Court for charges related to selling and distributing Class A, B, and C drugs.
And according to Sergeant Sirl, it’s not over yet. The whole thing’s still under investigation. He stated that further charges are possible for the two individuals already arrested. Additionally, police are reviewing evidence that could identify other people involved in the network.
Further, Sirl said they can’t rule out charges for either of the two individuals or other people the ongoing investigations might implicate.
He also issued a stark warning to others operating in the shadows. A lot of dark net vendors think they’re untouchable. However, they should know there’s no hiding place; even the dark web can’t keep them invisible to the police. And they’re not immune to prosecution.
A Broader Crackdown on Dark Web Syndicates
The recent burst is not an isolated event. It follows Operation Solana, a much larger investigation that exposed a sophisticated drug importing network operating across the country.
Operation Solana was a long-running probe led by the National Organised Crime Group. It took the team nine months to track a drug syndicate that used the dark web to import and distribute drugs.
From what the authorities said, this group tried to cover their tracks with dark web marketplaces, encrypted chat apps, and crypto. They were dealing with meth, cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, etc all shipped in from the UK, Europe, and the United States.
Arrests and Seizure During Operation Solana
Police went all out in Auckland and Hamilton for two days. They executed 16 search warrants, arrested 11 people aged between 24 and 42. Further, they seized a stash of drugs, about $500,000 in cash and three guns.
This syndicate had connections outside New Zealand, which made Customs and overseas agencies take part in the bust. Authorities from the US, Australia, and Europe seized over 200Kg of controlled drugs at their borders. These shipments were actually going straight to that same crime group.
Now, those 11 people are facing some heavy charges, importation, possession, and supply of Class A, B, and C drugs. That’s not even counting the charges for illegal firearms or participating in organized crime.
The details of this operation, which resulted in the arrest of 11 individuals in a coordinated dark web drug syndicate raid, underscore the scale of New Zealand’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the online narcotics trade.
Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Hunt from the National Organized Crime Group commented about the bust. He said Operation Solana shows police are getting better at detecting crime in anonymized online environments. With how law enforcement is going these days, the dark web won’t be able to keep these criminals hidden for long.
They are getting way better at tracking their hideouts down with new gadgets and sharper skills. The goal? To disrupt these dangerous operations and make sure the perpetrators face due punishments for their crimes.
