[Back to the takedown index](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns) # Operation Onymous November 2014, Darknet market Led by [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation) Verified core entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026 What was taken down? Silk Road 2.0 hidden service seized; dozens of additional onion services seized or disabled; servers seized across multiple countries.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) [See what happened](#what-happened) What happened to the people? Officials reported 17 apprehended. 1 charged and 1 apprehended named in the public record. Group accounted for: Partial [See people and accountability](#people) Did it stay down? Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry. [See what happened afterward](#afterward) ## What happened Coordinated multinational action seizing Silk Road 2.0 and dozens of additional dark-web marketplaces and hidden services.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) Announced November 7, 2014. **Date:** November 5 to November 7, 2014 **Target:** Silk Road 2.0 and additional Tor marketplaces, tor hidden service marketplaces **Activity:** Darknet market, Criminal hosting and proxies **Operational lead:** FBI **Partners** EC3, USAO-SDNY, and 1 more[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2) - [European Cybercrime Centre](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/european-cybercrime-centre), coordinator - [United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/united-states-attorney-s-office-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york), charging - [European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/european-union-agency-for-criminal-justice-cooperation), judicial cooperation **Jurisdiction:** United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and France **Outcome:** Silk Road 2.0 hidden service seized; dozens of additional onion services seized or disabled; servers seized across multiple countries. **Status:** Completed **Legal mechanism:** US seizure warrants (SDNY) plus parallel European judicial process coordinated via Europol EC3 and Eurojust **Group accounted for:** Partial ### Infrastructure Onion services seized and servers seized, with no count in the record. | Identifier | Recorded as | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Not published | Onion service | Seized | Silk Road 2.0 plus dozens of additional dark market hidden services. Counts reported range from 27 to more than 400 addresses depending on source. CONFLICTING and not harmonized.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2) | | Not published | Server | Seized | Servers seized across multiple European countries.[[2]](#source-2) | 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. ## People and accountability Named in the public record: 1 charged and 1 apprehended. Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted. Reported and named. Officials reported 17 apprehended. 1 charged and 1 apprehended named in the public record. The two figures come from different places and are never added together. Officials publish a headline total, and this index counts only the individuals it can name from the cited record. #### Blake Benthall Alleged operator of Silk Road 2.0. Current public status: Arrested and Charged. **Charging authority:** United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York **Main charges:** Narcotics trafficking conspiracy; Computer hacking conspiracy; Trafficking in fraudulent identification documents conspiracy; Money laundering conspiracy **Case number:** Not established in the public record **Arresting authority:** Federal Bureau of Investigation **Arrest location:** San Francisco, CA, United States **Extradition status:** Not established in the public record **Conviction or plea:** Not established in the public record **Sentence:** Not established in the public record **Segment:** Core operator **Sources:** [[1]](#source-1) **Full record:** [Everything indexed for Blake Benthall](https://takedownindex.org/people/blake-benthall) Group accounted for: Partial Arrests were made across several sites, but operator rosters for most seized services were never published. Multiple independent marketplaces were targeted; no single finite operator group applies to the campaign as a whole. [See the organizations and roles behind this action](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-onymous/organizations) ## What happened afterward Blake Benthall prosecuted in SDNY.[[1]](#source-1)[[2]](#source-2)[[3]](#source-3) Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry. Return class E. The class is a research grading carried in the source dataset and its scale is not published, so this page relies on the relationship and confidence values instead. [How this index handles it](https://takedownindex.org/about). ## Sources Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them. ### Official sources 1. [Operator Of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged In Manhattan Federal Court](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-attorney-s-office-southern-district-of-new-york-operator-of-silk-r) United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, November 6, 2014, Source grade P1 Silk Road 2.0 seizure, Benthall arrest and charges, seizure of additional dark markets No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. 2. [Global action against dark markets on Tor network](https://takedownindex.org/sources/europol-global-action-against-dark-markets-on-tor-network) Europol, November 7, 2014, Source grade P2 European component of Operation Onymous, arrest and server figures No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. ### Additional reporting and technical analysis 1. [Contemporaneous reporting on Operation Onymous](https://takedownindex.org/sources/major-independent-news-organizations-contemporaneous-reporting-on-operation-onym) Major independent news organizations, November 7, 2014, Source grade S1 Discrepancies in the reported number of seized hidden services No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. Coverage note. - Arrest count of 17 is an official aggregate reported at the time and is not reconciled with the single publicly named defendant record. - The method used to locate the hidden services was never disclosed and remains disputed. Research context ## How this entry was checked This entry went through a dedicated source verification pass. Publisher, title, publication date, and docket numbers were confirmed against each cited source. Source review: Verified core Sources cited: 3 Research cutoff: August 20, 2026 Last reviewed August 21, 2026 See also [About the Internet Takedown Index](https://takedownindex.org/about) Related entries - [Operation Pacifier / Playpen](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-pacifier-playpen) - [Operation Source / Beebone botnet disruption](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-source-beebone-botnet-disruption) - [Operation Tovar](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-tovar) Report updates or corrections Help keep this record accurate. [Submit feedback](https://takedownindex.org/about#corrections-and-updates)