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# Monopoly Market seizure

December 2021, Darknet market
Led by [Bundeskriminalamt](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/bundeskriminalamt)

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

Server infrastructure covertly seized and monitored before public disclosure.

[See what happened](#what-happened)

What happened to the people?

No individual outcomes are recorded against this entry.
Group accounted for: Not applicable

[See people and accountability](#people)

Did it stay down?

After this action the service returned under the same operators, first seen May 2023. No later seizure of the replacement is recorded. Medium confidence in the link between the two.

[See what happened afterward](#afterward)

## What happened

German authorities seized Monopoly Market's server infrastructure; the seizure was not publicly disclosed at the time and instead formed the intelligence basis for a later multinational operation against vendors and buyers.

**Date:** December 2021

**Target:** Monopoly Market, darknet market

**Activity:** Darknet market

**Operational lead:** BKA

**Jurisdiction:** Not established

**Outcome:** Server infrastructure covertly seized and monitored before public disclosure.

**Status:** Completed

**Legal mechanism:** German judicial search/seizure authority.

**Group accounted for:** Not applicable

## People and accountability

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: Not applicable

No operator arrest was announced in connection with the infrastructure seizure itself.

[See the organizations and roles behind this action](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/monopoly-market-seizure/organizations)

## What happened afterward

After this action the service returned under the same operators, first seen May 2023. No later seizure of the replacement is recorded. Medium confidence in the link between the two.

May 2023

Operation SpecTor vendor/buyer sweep. Same operators. Confidence: Medium. No later seizure recorded.[[2]](#source-2)

SpecTor explicitly used evidence gathered during the covert Monopoly Market seizure to identify vendors and buyers for arrest.

[Later action: Operation SpecTor](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-spector)

## Sources

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

### Official sources

1.
[Monopoly Market infrastructure seizure](https://takedownindex.org/sources/europol-monopoly-market-infrastructure-seizure)

Europol, May 2, 2023, Source grade P2

Establishes the covert 2021 German seizure of Monopoly Market infrastructure later disclosed alongside Operation SpecTor.

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

2.
[Operation SpecTor: 288 dark web vendors arrested worldwide](https://takedownindex.org/sources/europol-operation-spector-288-dark-web-vendors-arrested-worldwide)

Europol, May 2, 2023, Source grade P2

Establishes the 288-arrest figure, seized cash/virtual currency, drugs, and firearms.

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.

Research context

## How this entry was checked

This entry came from a broader aggregation pass and has not been independently verified source by source. Its sources are graded no higher than P2 or S2, and most carry no address yet. Treat the figures as a research lead rather than a settled record.

Source review: Extended pass, not yet verified

Sources cited: 2

Research cutoff: August 20, 2026

Last reviewed August 21, 2026

See also

[About the Internet Takedown Index](https://takedownindex.org/about)

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