Cryptocurrencies worth more than EUR 4.5 million (USD 5.23 million) have been captured by Spanish and Austrian police in a Europol-led operation against a drug crime group on the Darknet, the European Union (EU) law enforcement agency said on June 28. The seized digital coins are Bitcoin (BTC), IOTA (MIOTA) and Stellar Lumens (XLM).
The organized crime group had been operational in Spain since 2012.
“The Spanish Guardia Civil and the Austrian Federal Police, supported by Europol, have dismantled a criminal network producing and distributing synthetic drugs worldwide, known as new psychoactive substances (NPS), on the Darknet,” Europol explained.
“The criminal group was also involved in money laundering their share of the profits by selling cryptocurrencies, mainly Bitcoins. More than EUR 4 500 000 in Bitcoins, IOTA and lumen was seized by law enforcement authorities.”
Nearly 24 hours after the Europol announcement, all three cryptocurrencies are trading in the red territory. At 13:39 UTC on Friday, the market leader BTC went down 3.46% for the last day to USD 5873 for one coin. MIOTA, ranked tenth in digital coin trading volume, and changed hand at USD 0.9, a drop of nearly 6.33%. XLM, seventh by volume, was traded at USD 0.17, down 7.99%.
The biggest Europol LSD Bust
As part of the operation, the police arrested eight people, searched six houses, dismantled two synthetic drug laboratories, seized three real estate properties worth more than EUR 1 million, confiscated EUR 700 000 in cash and EUR 1.6 million from an Austrian bank account.
“Drug trafficking is big business, bringing in a fifth of all profits from organised crime. The market for synthetic drugs runs into the billions of euros each year and the sophistication of producers and traffickers continues to rise,” Europol explained in a statement.
“Over the last decade, illegal online markets have changed how drugs are bought and sold. Criminal activity on the Darknet has become more innovative and more difficult to predict. Darknet markets provide a largely anonymous platform for trading in a range of illicit goods and services. It is estimated that around two thirds of the offers on Darknet markets are drug-related.”
In May German authorities sold seized cryptocurrencies for EUR 12 million while this week US Department of Justice confiscated USD 20 million in digital coins from the Darknet.
