Europol confiscated bitcoins from the largest darknet market

Police raided two of the world's leading darknet drug trafficking sites, confiscating several raw materials used to make drugs, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin and Monero.

According to Europol, Wall Street Market is the second largest online shadow marketplace in the world, selling drugs (including cocaine, heroin and marijuana), stolen data, forged documents and virus software. The illegal platform was made available on the darknet via the Tor network.

The police managed to confiscate 550,000 euros ($ 613,000) worth of cryptocurrency, as well as storage devices and other equipment. Several of the largest drug suppliers have been caught in the United States. In total, more than a million users were registered on the site.

Bitcoin and Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, were the preferred payment methods. The platform owners are said to have received a commission of 2-6% on sales.

Earlier this year, Finnish law enforcement officials shut down another leading market, Silkkietie, also known as Valhalla. It is considered one of the oldest and most famous Tor trading portals in the world. The market has been online since 2013.

Detectives monitored Tor sites, including the Wall Street Market, and arrested Silkkietie drug dealers. Finnish officials in the process seized a substantial amount of bitcoin money, and also confiscated devices belonging to Silkkitie.