The servers of the world’s largest Russian-language darknet market, Hydra Market, were shut down in Germany.
The server infrastructure of the largest Russian-language darknet market in the world, Hydra Market, was shut down in Germany, according to the report of the Federal Criminal Police Office.
“Bitcoins worth the equivalent of about 23 million euros have been confiscated, which are currently related to the trading platform,” it added.
The operators and administrators of the platform are under preliminary investigation on suspicion of commercial activities of criminal online trading platforms, commercial acquisition or enabling illegal drug trafficking, and money laundering.
This was preceded by “extensive investigations” conducted by BKA and the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office “since August 2021 and involving U.S. authorities,” according to the report.
The illegal trading platform was a Russian-language Darknet platform that had been accessible since at least 2015. The platform, where more than 19,000 sellers and about 17 million users were registered, was used for illegal trade in drugs, stolen data, fake documents and digital services. BKA estimated that Hydra Market was probably the illegal site with the highest turnover in the world. In 2020 alone, its sales were at least 1.23 billion euros.
