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DeepDotWeb domain seizure

May 2019, Criminal hosting and proxies
Led by Federal Bureau of Investigation

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Clearnet domain seized pursuant to US court order.

See what happened

What happened to the people?

Officials reported 2 apprehended.
Group accounted for: Likely complete

See people and accountability

Did it stay down?

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

See what happened afterward

FBI seized the clearnet domain of DeepDotWeb, a portal that referred users to darknet markets in exchange for kickbacks, and two alleged administrators were arrested abroad (Israel and France).

Date
May 2019
Target
DeepDotWeb, referral portal
Activity
Criminal hosting and proxies
Operational lead
FBI
Partners
USAO-WDPA, Europol[1]
Jurisdiction
Not established
Outcome
Clearnet domain seized pursuant to US court order.
Status
Completed
Legal mechanism
US court seizure order; indictment alleging money-laundering conspiracy (W.D. Pa.)
Group accounted for
Likely complete

Infrastructure

1 domain seized.

1
domain seized
Identifier Recorded as Status Notes
deepdotweb[.]com 1 domain Seized, United States Primary referral-portal domain seized.[1]

Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources.

No individual is named against this entry in the cited record. That is a gap in what has been published rather than a finding that nobody was involved.

Group accounted for: Likely complete

Both alleged administrators were arrested internationally in a coordinated action.

See the organizations and roles behind this action

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them.

Official sources

  1. [1]
    DeepDotWeb administrators charged; domain seized

    US DOJ / USAO WDPA, May 7, 2019, Source grade P1

    Establishes the domain seizure and the arrest of two alleged administrators.

    No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher.

Coverage note. Added from deep-research aggregation pass. Not independently re-verified source-by-source to the same standard as the original 38-incident core; source_quality capped at S2/P2 pending a dedicated verification pass.