International coalition takes down largest illegal trading platform for drugs

Law enforcement agencies from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Romania, and the United States have dismantled ‘Archetyp Market’, one of the longest-running illegal marketplaces for drugs on the dark web.

According to Europol and Eurojust, the platform had approximately 3,200 vendors and more than 600,000 users worldwide, who traded drugs that were worth at least €250 million.

The dark web marketplace was active for over five years and had around 17,000 online listings of fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids, including cocaine, MDMA, and amphetamines.

Between June 11 and 13, 2025, around 300 police officers across the European Union participated in a series of coordinated actions. As a result, the platform’s digital infrastructure was taken offline in the Netherlands. Its administrator, a 30-year-old German national residing in Spain, was arrested in Barcelona.

Additionally, one moderator and six of the marketplace’s top vendors were detained in Germany and Sweden. Lastly, assets worth over €7.8 million were seized during Operation Deep Sentinel.

“With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web’s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world’s most dangerous substances. By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm,” Europol’s Deputy Executive Director of Operations Jean-Philippe Lecouffe commented.

The takedown and arrests are the result of years of intensive investigative work, in which law enforcement authorities worked hard to map Archetyp Market’s technical architecture and identify the individuals behind the marketplace.

“By tracing financial flows, analyzing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground, authorities were able to deliver a decisive blow to one of the most prolific drug markets on the dark web,” Europol states.

Anyone who visits the illicit marketplace is greeted by a splash page.