Since 2015, the world’s largest and oldest darknet website, known as “Hydra,” has been selling drugs and other illegal items and services. The site has millions of customers and thousands of seller accounts on their marketplace.
The darknet, or dark web, is a collection of websites that are hidden from normal search engines and browsers. Users access the darknet with web browsers that hide their identities.
After months of investigation and in coordination with U.S. law enforcement, on Tuesday German police were able to seize the site’s servers and confiscate millions in Bitcoin. They acted on a tip that the servers were hosted in Germany. It took months for investigators to locate the hosting company. They were able to get a judge to approve a takedown order. Resisting the order would have resulted in arrests and the hosting company complied.
The site was written in Russian, and its sellers were located in several of the surroundings countries.
Following the shutdown of the site, the US Treasury issued sanctions against Hydra “in a coordinated international effort to disrupt proliferation of malicious cybercrime services, dangerous drugs, and other illegal offerings available through the Russia-based site.”
The DOJ charged one of Hydra’s alleged operators with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and commit money laundering.
Court documents reveal that Hydra facilitated the buying and selling of drugs, stolen financial information, fraudulent ID documents and money laundering services.
Visitors to the site now see a sign that states “the platform and the criminal content has been seized.”
