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# Operation SpecTor

May 2023, Darknet market

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

No new infrastructure seizure; operation used previously seized Monopoly Market data/evidence to support arrests.

[See what happened](#what-happened)

What happened to the people?

Officials reported 288 apprehended.
Group accounted for: Not applicable

[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

A Europol-coordinated multinational operation used intelligence from the covert 2021 Monopoly Market seizure to conduct a large sweep of darknet-market vendors and buyers across Europe, the US, UK, and Brazil.

**Date:** May 2023

**Target:** Multiple darknet-market vendors and buyers (Monopoly Market intelligence), darknet market

**Activity:** Darknet market

**Operational lead:** Not established

**Partners**

Europol, DEA[[1]](#source-1)

- [European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/european-union-agency-for-law-enforcement-cooperation), coordinator
- [Drug Enforcement Administration](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/drug-enforcement-administration), supporting

**Jurisdiction:** Not established

**Outcome:** No new infrastructure seizure; operation used previously seized Monopoly Market data/evidence to support arrests.

**Status:** Completed

**Legal mechanism:** National arrest warrants across participating jurisdictions.

**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

Operation targeted a cross-section of vendors and buyers rather than a single bounded operator group.

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

## What happened afterward

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

## Sources

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

### Official sources

1.
[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: 1

Research cutoff: August 20, 2026

Last reviewed August 21, 2026

See also

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

Related entries

- [Kingdom Market seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/kingdom-market-seizure)
- [Nemesis Market seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/nemesis-market-seizure)
- [Hydra Market server seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/hydra-market-server-seizure)

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