The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the seizure of AlphaBay, the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet, which was used to sell stolen financial information, identification documents and other personal data, computer hacking tools, drugs, firearms, and a vast number of other illegal good and services throughout the world.

AlphaBay was the largest dark web market with estimated annual sales of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which made it nearly ten times the size of the infamous Silk Road dark web marketplace that was shut down by the government in 2013. AlphaBay operated as a hidden service on The Onion Router (“Tor”) network, which hid the locations of its underlying servers and the identities of its administrators, moderators, and users.  Its user interface was configured like a conventional e-commerce website, where vendors could sell illegal goods or services in exchange for paying a percentage of the transaction as a commission to AlphaBay.

AlphaBay had a dedicated section of the website where users could purchase stolen credit cards and financial information, as well as stolen personal identifying information (PII) – even offering specific search controls to allow potential buyers to search the listings by location (city, state and country), social security number, birth year, credit limit, PIN number, seller, seller rating, price, and more.

The international operation to seize AlphaBay’s infrastructure was led by the United States and involved cooperation with law enforcement authorities in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, as well as the European law enforcement agency Europol. On July 5, Alexandre Cazes, a Canadian citizen residing in Thailand, was arrested by Thai authorities on behalf of the United States for his alleged role as the creator and administrator of AlphaBay.  On July 12, Cazes apparently took his own life while in custody in Thailand.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have seized millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrencies that represent the proceeds of AlphaBay’s illegal activities, including at least 1,943 Bitcoin, 8,669 Ethereum, 3,691 Zcash, and 11,993 Monero. Cazes and his wife had also amassed numerous other high value assets, including luxury vehicles, residences and a hotel in Thailand.

Prior to its takedown, there were over 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals on AlphaBay, and over 100,000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services. Comparatively, the Silk Road dark web marketplace reportedly had approximately 14,000 listings for illicit goods and services at the time of seizure in 2013 and was the largest dark web marketplace at the time. These numbers indicate that the use of dark web marketplaces for illegal commerce will only continue to grow, despite the closure of AlphaBay.

In his public remarks regarding the seizure of AlphaBay, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated, “This is likely one of the most important criminal case of the year. Make no mistake, the forces of law and justice face a new challenge from the criminals and transnational criminal organizations who think they can commit their crimes with impunity by ‘going dark.’ This case, pursued by dedicated agents and prosecutors, says you are not safe.  You cannot hide. We will find you, dismantle your organization and network.  And we will prosecute you.”