Authorities Take Down Hansa Dark Web Market, Confirm AlphaBay Takedown

[LASER_oneXM]

Today, in coordinated press releases, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Europol announced the takedown of two Dark Web marketplaces — AlphaBay and Hansa Market.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially confirmed today a coordinated international law enforcement effort to take down AlphaBay after news of raids and arrests in the US, Canada, and Thailand leaked to the press last week.

In a similar announcement, Europol announced that Dutch police together with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had also managed to take down the Hansa Market.

AlphaBay was ten times larger than Silk Road
FBI Active Director McCabe said AlphaBay was ten times larger than Silk Road, with over 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals; and over 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services.

In opposition, Silk Road, which authorities seized in November 2013, listed a meager 14,000 listings for illicit goods and services at the time authorities took down the service.

Law enforcement in the Netherlands, Lithuania, France, and the UK also contributed.