[German]The darknet marketplace for drugs, Archetype Market, was seized and shut down by a Europe-wide law enforcement operation. This law enforcement operation took place in six countries with the support of Europol and Eurojust. Here is a rough overview.
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The dark web marketplace Archetyp Market was active for over five years. Archetyp was one of the only platforms that enabled the sale of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. With 3,200 sellers, the marketplace had around 17,000 offers online and was considered one of the largest of its kind with more than 600,000 users. The more than 600,000 users of the platform traded drugs worth at least 250 million euros.
The investigation into Archetyp revealed that the founder and current administrator was a German national residing in Spain. International cooperation between authorities, financial tracing and analysis of digital evidence led to the identification of the individuals behind Archetyp.
Investigators discovered the location of the servers, moderators and sellers on the marketplace. A coordinated week of action was planned to dismantle Archetype and arrest those responsible for selling and operating the platform under the coordination of Eurojust and Europol.
Between June 11 and 13, 2025, a series of coordinated operations took place in Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden, targeting the platform's administrator, moderators, key providers and technical infrastructure. Around 300 officers were deployed to carry out the operation and secure important evidence.
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These operations led to the arrest of the platform founder and current administrator in Spain. Eurojust and Europol coordinated the investigations and operations, which led to the arrest of a total of eight people. There was also a seizure of assets worth EUR 7.8 million.
The authorities took the Archetyp Market platform offline and believe they have dealt a serious blow to drug traffickers in Europe.
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