Category

# Darknet market takedowns

Actions against hidden marketplaces trading in drugs, weapons, credentials, and other illicit goods.

Records 12 2013 to 2025

Infrastructure 13 Items recorded as acted on

People named 7 Distinct people in these records

Sources 25 Cited across the category

## What this category covers

Server seizures, covert takeovers where investigators ran a market before closing it, the identification of operators, and what the public record establishes about where buyers and vendors went afterwards.

Every entry below is an action that was carried out, not an announcement of intent. The [counting rules](https://takedownindex.org/about/counting-incidents) and the [inclusion definition](https://takedownindex.org/about/what-counts) apply to this category exactly as they apply to the rest of the index.

What the record does not settle

- 5 of 12 records have a documented successor. Silence in the other rows is not evidence that a service stayed down.
- Reported figures come from the acting authorities. Named figures come from people recorded individually here. The two are never added together.

## Chronology

| Date | Takedown | Target | Led by | Jurisdictions |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 1, 2013 | [Silk Road seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/silk-road-seizure) | Silk Road | FBI | International |
| Nov 5, 2014 | [Operation Onymous](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-onymous) | Silk Road 2.0 and additional Tor marketplaces | FBI | International |
| Jun 20, 2017 | [Hansa covert takeover and shutdown](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/hansa-covert-takeover-and-shutdown) | Hansa Market | Dutch National Police | International |
| Jul 4, 2017 | [AlphaBay seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/alphabay-seizure) | AlphaBay | FBI and DEA | International |
| May 3, 2019 | [Wall Street Market / Silkkitie (Valhalla) shutdown](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/wall-street-market-silkkitie-valhalla-shutdown) | Wall Street Market and Silkkitie/Valhalla | BKA and Tulli | Not established |
| Jan 12, 2021 | [DarkMarket shutdown](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/darkmarket-shutdown) | DarkMarket | BKA | Not established |
| Dec 1, 2021 | [Monopoly Market seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/monopoly-market-seizure) | Monopoly Market | BKA | Not established |
| Apr 5, 2022 | [Hydra Market server seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/hydra-market-server-seizure) | Hydra Market | BKA | International |
| May 2, 2023 | [Operation SpecTor](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-spector) | Multiple darknet-market vendors and buyers (Monopoly Market intelligence) | Not established | Not established |
| Dec 1, 2023 | [Kingdom Market seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/kingdom-market-seizure) | Kingdom Market | FBI and HSI | Not established |
| Mar 20, 2024 | [Nemesis Market seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/nemesis-market-seizure) | Nemesis Market | BKA | Not established |
| Jun 11, 2025 | [Operation Deep Sentinel](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-deep-sentinel) | Archetyp Market | BKA | International |

## Who leads these actions

- [BKA](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/bundeskriminalamt)6 records
- [FBI](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation)4 records
- [DEA](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/drug-enforcement-administration)1 record
- [Tulli](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/finnish-customs)1 record
- [HSI](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/homeland-security-investigations)1 record
- [Dutch National Police](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/politie-netherlands-national-police)1 record

## Where they were carried out

- United States5 records
- Germany4 records
- Netherlands4 records
- European Union3 records
- Lithuania2 records
- Canada1 record
- Spain1 record
- France1 record

A takedown is counted once for every country named in its geographic scope, so these figures sum to more than 12.

[Filter the full index by this category](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns?activity_type=darknet_market)