Feds Nab $200M+ in Crypto Crackdown on Fentanyl Networks—Because Crime Still Pays (Just Not in Privacy Coins)
In a move that’ll make compliance officers cheer—and darknet dealers sweat—the DOJ just clawed back over $200 million from narcotics traffickers. Guess those ’untraceable’ crypto wallets weren’t so bulletproof after all.
Operation Choke Point 2.0? This multi-agency dragnet targeted fentanyl supply chains funded by digital assets, proving even drug cartels can’t resist the liquidity of crypto. Too bad their cold storage got a federal hot-wallet upgrade.
While Treasury hawks high-five over the seizure, crypto maximalists shrug: ‘Asset forfeiture? Just another centralized rug pull.’ Meanwhile, anonymous shitcoin devs are frantically rebranding their ‘privacy features’ as ‘accidental coding errors.’
DOJ’s Operation RapTor
According to the official press release, the operation was carried out with the help of 10 countries – including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil – and marks the most significant takedown in the history of the DOJ’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team. More than two metric tons of drugs were confiscated, including 144 kilograms of fentanyl-laced substances and over 180 firearms.
The JCODE, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), and international partners pooled intelligence gathered from previously dismantled darknet markets such as Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom Markets. These takedowns provided critical investigative leads that enabled a series of synchronized, yet independent, enforcement actions across jurisdictions.
Interestingly, this operation also included the first sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as a JCODE member agency. Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, founder of Nemesis Market, was sanctioned and indicted on drug trafficking charges in Ohio following the market’s seizure.
In a statement, FBI Director Kash Patel said,
“By cowardly hiding online, these traffickers have wreaked havoc across our country and directly fueled the fentanyl crisis and gun violence impacting our American communities and neighborhoods. But the ease and accessibility of their crimes ends today.”
OFAC Targets Nemesis
Earlier in March, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned 49 crypto addresses linked to Nemesis, a darknet marketplace which is accused of facilitating a $30 million drug trade. Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, the alleged founder, is accused of operating the platform, collecting fees, laundering money, and supporting the sale of fentanyl, fake IDs, and hacking services.
Nemesis operated from 2021 to 2024 and served more than 30,000 users during this period. Authorities seized its servers last year along with $102,000 in crypto. Despite takedowns like this and others such as Genesis and Hydra, darknet marketplaces generated $1.7 billion in revenue in 2024.
