US Reports 354 Arrests In Global Dark Web Drug Operation
The Justice Department says Operation TorNado seized over $234 million in cash and virtual currencies, digital value usable as money.
The US Justice Department announced on 12th November 2026 that Operation TorNado had resulted in 354 arrests worldwide. The international operation targeted suspected drug vendors and buyers using dark web markets, online marketplaces accessed with a special browser, according to the department's press release.
Authorities seized over $234 million in cash and virtual currencies combined, the department said. The release's text does not give the split between the two, so the total does not establish how much cryptocurrency was seized.
For background, see our explainers on Bitcoin anonymity and who controls crypto wallet keys.
The department also reported seizures of approximately 5.7 metric tonnes of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms. The drugs included fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.
The operation ran from May 2025 to October 2026. The department listed 132 arrests in the United States, 59 in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary and 41 in Germany, alongside arrests in other countries.
The work involved the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, known as JCODE, and Europol. According to the US announcement, investigators used intelligence obtained after earlier marketplace and vendor takedowns to pursue separate investigations. Those investigations linked online vendor accounts to individuals.
The department named Archetyp, Bohemia, Nemesis, Kingdom and Tor2Door among the previously seized markets on which targeted vendors and buyers had been active. It also identified DrugHub as a market used by vendors investigated in the operation.
In a 16th June 2025 press release, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office and Frankfurt prosecutors said Dutch police had seized and shut down the servers used by Archetyp. They said the seized data formed the basis for further international investigations into the platform's sellers and users.
The arrests do not establish guilt. The department said defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
The release describes TorNado as JCODE's sixth coordinated international operation since the team's creation in 2018. The department said investigations were continuing to identify people behind dark web accounts.
