AG Garland Announces Largest Int'l Operation Against Darknet Trafficking of Fentanyl and Opioids

[ancianita]

A little over two weeks ago, I announced that the Justice Department had taken significant enforcement actions against the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world: the Sinaloa Cartel.

I said then that the Justice Department is doing everything in our power, and using every authority we have, to bring those responsible for the fentanyl epidemic to justice.

That includes holding accountable the drug traffickers who use the dark web to commit their crimes.

Drug traffickers are increasingly turning to the dark web to sell illegal drugs in exchange for cryptocurrency. They may advertise their drugs on darknet marketplaces as brand name pharmaceuticals. But in reality, the pills are often counterfeit and laced with fentanyl.

The drug traffickers are confident that, by operating anonymously on the dark web, they can operate outside the bounds of the law.

They are wrong.

I am joined today by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, DEA Principal Deputy Administrator Lou Milione, Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale, IRS-CI Chief Jim Lee, and FDA Investigative Services Division Chief Daniel Burke.

We are here today to announce the results of an unprecedented international enforcement operation led by the FBI – known as Operation SpecTor – against traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs who operate on the dark web.

Operation SpecTor was a coordinated international law enforcement effort, spanning three continents, to disrupt drug trafficking on the dark web.

It involved agencies across the federal government, along with our partners at Europol and Eurojust, and law enforcement agencies in eight foreign countries. It was led by the Department’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement – or JCODE – team.

Across the U.S. and eight other countries, Operation SpecTor resulted in a total of 288 arrests and the seizure of 117 illegal firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs, and $53.4 million dollars in cash and cryptocurrency.

This represents the most funds seized and the highest number of arrests in any coordinated international action led by the Justice Department against drug traffickers on the dark web.

Here in the United States, our Operation SpecTor investigations involved the FBI, DEA, ATF, and more than 30 U.S. Attorneys’ offices – as well as our partners at other federal agencies.

In the United States, we arrested 153 defendants, seized 104 illegal guns, and seized over 200,000 pills, including those containing fentanyl.

To give just three examples of the cases that made up this massive operation since it began in October 2021:

In the Central District of California, a defendant was charged with drug and weapons offenses for his role in leading an organization that obtained bulk fentanyl; operated labs that used high-speed pill presses to create pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine; and sold millions of pills to thousands of customers on the darknet.

In the Southern District of Florida, we secured the conviction of an individual who distributed narcotics, including fentanyl, on various dark web marketplaces. That defendant possessed a list of over 6,000 customers across the United States.

And in the Eastern District of California, two individuals were charged with drug and money laundering offenses for their role in selling tens of thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in exchange for cryptocurrency on the dark web.

I am extremely grateful to the agents, prosecutors, analysts, and staff across the Department who participated in this operation –including the FBI and its JCODE team, the DEA and ATF, our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and OCDETF, and multiple sections of the Criminal Division – including the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, the Fraud Section, and the Office of International Affairs.

I also want to thank our partners across the federal government for their assistance in this operation – including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FDA Office of Investigations, and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

I am likewise grateful to our partners at Europol and Eurojust, and to our law enforcement partners in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland – without whom this operation would not have been possible.

The Justice Department is cracking down on criminal cryptocurrency transactions and the online criminal marketplaces that enable them.

In 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the results of another international operation, Operation DarkHunTor, which involved the arrests of 150 Darknet drug traffickers and the seizure of $32 [million] in cash and cryptocurrencies.

Last year, together with our German law enforcement partners, we seized Hydra Market, the world’s largest and longest-running illegal marketplace on the dark web.

Earlier this year, we led a coordinated international operation against Genesis Market, a major criminal marketplace that enabled cybercriminals to victimize individuals, businesses, and governments around the world.

And today, we have announced an unprecedented international enforcement action against drug traffickers on the dark web.

This work will continue.

Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes.

The Justice Department, together with our American and international partners, will continue to disrupt and dismantle darknet markets.

[Firestorm49]

1. How nice. At least we know that he's still on the job.

[ancianita]

2. He runs operations

from the biggest law firm on the planet.

Rakes back BILLIONS stolen from this country. This department saves enough money for the US Treasury that it more than pays for its own budget.

[jaxexpat]

4. Obviously, the drug distributors aren't insurrection-pushing-Republican-idealogues.

If they were, they'd be immune from prosecution, unmentionable and invisible during Garland's precious facetime with the TeeVee camera. Perhaps if we sought aid from Interpol, they would round the GOP up before there's no USA left to disappoint the world's next generation.

Garland has no interest in securing the nation from criminal conspiracies by "conservatives". He will never move to prosecute the leadership of this dangerous criminal organization. It would be tantamount to ordering his minions to arrest themselves and him.

It's not the drugs and it has never been the drug distributors. They just fill a niche in this chain of unacknowledged despair. Drug use is the people's response to living in a nation whose leaders don't know them and when they get a glimpse promptly deny their existence. Oh....and the greed....yeah....the greed, too.

[housecat]

3. All good. However, It appears that Garland is doing anything to avoid tfg. IMO he is not slow; he

Last edited Wed May 3, 2023, 12:12 PM - Edit history (2)

is dragging his feet (with intent) on this one (albeit huge) set of cases as the next election approaches. With a veritable army of agents the DOJ can and must focus on foiling Russian assets' attempts to destroy democracy. Is the DOJ with us or against us? SCOTUS has been bought; might the DOJ suffer from similar players?

Multi-national crime has multi-national agents and law enforcement working together to weaken international crime syndicates. Not every nation plays by the same rules, which is a strength, not a weakness. American law is flawed, particularly with regard to civil rights. But even if inequality is addressed, there are weaknesses like lengthy delays and an exaggerated need to prove intent. Other nations may or may not require delays.

An American conspiracy to turn a modern version of the original constitutional "democracy" into an archaic fascist theocracy warrants more than falling for quasi-legal delay tactics. If playing by the rules is ineffective to eliminate the enemy, then whatever rules are holding Garland back must be changed or broken.This is neither a game nor a dress rehearsal. We have never been faced with powerful global terrorists AND internal terrorists simultaneously. So-called MAGAT automatons have already managed to destroy one of two political parties and permit them to insert monsters into the legislature and judiciary. Threat of another era of a destructive executive branch looms.

No, Garland must use whatever power he has NOW. Excuses are hollow, because this may very well be our last chance.

[ancianita]

5. Not cool. You're forgetting. He has NOTHING to do with the Special Counsel's dealing with tfg.

What 'appears' to you is surface.
The DOJ speaks to the public daily about its operations' outcomes. Garland's DOJ speaks through its court filings.

Stop underestimating Garland's importance in enforcing rule of law. Garland is not "intentionally" dragging his feet about a damn thing.

Notice here that by the time Garland appointed Jack Smith, Garland had had over 30 of tfg's inner circle (it's bolded) subpoenaed and testifying -- and Pence's chief of staff TWICE -- before the two grand juries that will continue until March 2024.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217635999

[housecat]

7. It is a complicated debate, not entirely one way or the other.

[housecat]

15. Yeah, I think you're right. I've been all for Garland until the one rant.

You and another DUer explained why I was overreacting. I stand corrected.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Your opinion isn't supported by publicly available information. Nt

[housecat]

8. Never said it was, hence the word "opinion."

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. As long as you acknowledge you're just making stuff up

I suppose that’s OK…

[housecat]

16. Maybe not OK. I've always been 100% for Garland until that one rant. I stand corrected.

[Bev54]

10. Is this related to the large drug bust of Italian Mafia across Europe?

[ancianita]

11. No. Which, in a way, is surprising. That large bust was carried out by Europol.

[lostnfound]

13. I found it odd that the US wasn't needed

Maybe our Italian mob has been fully supplanted by Russian mob?

[ancianita]

14. Well, it could also mean

that they've learned a good deal from our LEO's about surveilling. The FBI has over 51 offices around the world, which those countries appreciate.

The swoop was part of an investigation spanning Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania as well as Brazil and Panama, according to EU law enforcement agency Europol. The network was devoted primarily to international drug trafficking from South America to Europe and Australia, Europol said in a statement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-mob-arrests-europe-ndrangheta-b2331654.html

[Rhiannon12866]

12. K&R! Great news! Thanks for posting!