Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Showing posts with label dark web. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dark web. Show all posts

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Operation RapTor Takes Down Dark Web Traffickers with 2 Tons of Drugs Seized, 270 Arrests Across 4 Continents

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat


A global law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol has struck a major blow to the criminal underground, with 270 arrests of dark web vendors and buyers across ten countries. Known as Operation RapTor, this international sweep has dismantled networks trafficking in drugs, weapons, and counterfeit goods, sending a clear signal to criminals hiding behind the illusion of anonymity.

The suspects were identified through coordinated investigations based on intelligence from the takedowns of the dark web marketplaces Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia and Kingdom Markets. Many had conducted thousands of sales on illicit marketplaces, using encryption tools and cryptocurrencies to cover their tracks — but law enforcement closed in.

This international action follows Operation SpecTor in 2023, which led to 288 arrests. Together, these operations show the increasing ability of law enforcement to penetrate the dark web’s cloak of secrecy.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Pardoned by Trump, Was Serving Life Sentence

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

From a NPR Article



Ross Ulbricht, also known as "Dread Pirate Roberts," operated the Dark Web marketplace known as Silk Road between 2011 and 2013, when law enforcement shut the site down and arrested him at a California public library.

At the time of his sentencing in San Francisco in 2015, Ulbricht was 31 years old. He was convicted of distributing narcotics, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit computer hacking, and conspiring to create fake identities and launder money. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Friday, July 12, 2024

German Dark Web Trafficker Linked to Sinaloa Cartel and Clan del Golfo Arrested in Colombia

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat


A satanic altar, weapons, an elaborate surveillance system and images of demonic entities are some of the items that Colombian authorities found in the secluded luxury cabin where Patrick Schmitz 'Patrick Smith', a website management expert on the dark web who worked for the Gulf Clan and the Sinaloa Cartel, was hiding. Infobae reports indicate that Patrick would also be linked to the CJNG.

The German-born individual was in the sights of the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other United States agencies due to his activities linked to drug trafficking and money laundering for those criminal groups. Director General of the Colombian National Police General Salamanca Ramírez stated that Schmitz was arrested in compliance with an order issued by a District Court of New Jersey.