Operation TorNado: 354 Arrested in Global Dark Web Drug Crackdown
The United States Justice Department and Europol announced on Thursday that an 18-month international operation targeting dark web drug traffickers ended with 354 arrests across 14 countries and the seizure of more than $234 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
Operation TorNado ran from May 2025 to October 2026 and was coordinated by the FBI-led Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, known as JCODE, alongside Europol and law enforcement partners in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Officials described it as the largest takedown of dark web drug vendors and buyers to date.
An 18-month sweep across 14 countries
The arrests were spread across the United States and 13 partner countries. The United States accounted for the largest share, with 132 arrests, followed by the United Kingdom with 59, Hungary with 45 and Germany with 41. France recorded 23 arrests, New Zealand 13, the Netherlands 12, Slovenia 11, Austria six, Ireland five, Czechia four, Australia two and Finland one.
The operation was the sixth internationally coordinated action by JCODE since the team was created in 2018, and it builds on last year’s Operation RapTor. Investigators used information gathered after earlier marketplace and vendor takedowns to identify suspected sellers, then grouped separate investigations under Operation TorNado. Some investigations are still open, and officials said work continues to identify the people behind some dark web accounts.
What investigators seized
Worldwide, authorities seized about 5.7 metric tonnes of illicit drugs, including fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA. They also seized 38 pill presses and 209 firearms.
The United States accounted for most of the haul: about 4.8 metric tonnes of drugs, more than $166 million in cash and cryptocurrency, 152 firearms and all 38 pill presses. More than 354 kilograms of the drugs seized in the United States consisted of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced pills, according to the FBI.
In Europe, authorities seized more than 60 million euros in cash and cryptocurrency, along with 950 kilograms of drugs and 57 firearms. Europol put the total value of assets seized in the operation at more than 210 million euros. Neither the Justice Department nor Europol split the $234 million total between cash and cryptocurrency, and neither named any single cryptocurrency in the official totals.
Markets already seized, vendors still trading
The operation targeted vendors and buyers who had been active on five dark web markets already seized by law enforcement: Archetyp, Bohemia, Nemesis, Kingdom and Tor2Door. Officials said the targets had carried out tens of thousands of sales of illicit goods and services across the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
The Justice Department reported separately that US violent crime fell 25% in 2025, according to its national survey, a reminder that the drug trade sits alongside a wider fall in reported violent crime. The department has also pursued the proceeds of online crime on other fronts: the FBI said it seized more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency reported stolen from Binance, and US immigration authorities reported record 483,200 deportations in fiscal 2026.
Cases behind the totals
The Justice Department published court documents with the announcement, including indictments and complaints in cases in several federal districts. Among the cases highlighted was that of Alexander Green, 32, of Jacksonville, North Carolina, who was arrested in June and charged in the Southern District of Ohio with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl.
The charges are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
What officials said
Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from identifying and dismantling drug trafficking networks.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called the operation “the largest interagency takedown of Dark Web drug vendors and buyers to date.”
FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said: “Operation TorNado confronted one of the most urgent public safety threats of our time — the trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly drugs through the dark web.”
What the operation does not settle
The announcement did not estimate how much of the online drug market the seizures represent, or how long any reduction in supply might last. Europol noted that dark web marketplaces “continue to adapt despite takedowns”, and officials acknowledged that the figures describe what authorities took into custody, not the size of the trade that remains.
The Justice Department said the operation involved the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the US Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, alongside Europol and Eurojust.
