United States and international law enforcement announced on Thursday that an 18-month crackdown on dark web drug trafficking, code-named Operation TorNado, produced 354 arrests across 14 countries and seized more than $234 million in cash and cryptocurrency, along with about 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms. The Justice Department called it the largest dark web drug takedown to date; 132 of the arrests took place in the United States.
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| The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. The department announced the results of Operation TorNado on November 12, 2026. (Photo: Getty Images) |
The Largest Dark Web Takedown Yet
The Department of Justice announced the results on November 12, 2026, through its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, known as JCODE, together with Europol. Attorney General Todd Blanche unveiled the figures at a press conference in Washington.
"Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from identifying and dismantling drug trafficking networks," Blanche said. "Operation TorNado crippled Dark Web market vendors and will bring alleged drug traffickers to justice."
FBI Director Kash Patel put it in similar terms. "Operation TorNado is the largest interagency takedown of Dark Web drug vendors and buyers to date, resulting in 354 arrests worldwide, including 132 in the United States," Patel said. "Criminals cannot hide behind technology or geography — no matter where you operate, justice will find you."
The operation ran from May 2025 through October 2026, spanning the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It was the sixth internationally coordinated JCODE action since 2018, and officials said it was the most extensive yet, building on last year's Operation RapTor, which produced 270 arrests across ten countries.
After the United States' 132 arrests, the largest totals were 59 in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary, 41 in Germany and 23 in France, with smaller numbers in nine other countries. The Justice Department said a number of investigations are still continuing to identify the individuals behind dark web accounts.
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| Suspected fentanyl pills displayed as evidence after a Drug Enforcement Administration seizure. Operation TorNado seized about 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs worldwide, including fentanyl. (Photo: DEA) |
What Was Seized
Worldwide, authorities seized more than $234 million in cash and virtual currencies, approximately 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms, according to the Justice Department. The drugs included fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA.
In the United States alone, the haul came to more than $166 million in cash and cryptocurrency, about 4.8 metric tons of drugs, 152 firearms and all 38 of the pill presses. More than 354 kilograms of the drugs seized in the United States consisted of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced pills, the FBI said.
The pill presses matter because they point to domestic manufacturing, not just distribution: at least some of the fake pills sold online were being produced inside the United States.
The Cases Behind the Numbers
Behind the headline figures, the Justice Department said the operation produced dozens of federal prosecutions in more than 20 federal districts. The cases show how the vendors operated: anonymous storefronts on dark web markets, payments in cryptocurrency, and drugs shipped by mail to buyers across the country.
In Florida, two brothers were arrested for allegedly running a dark web vendor account called "BarbaraWhite" that sold counterfeit oxycodone M30 pills laced with nitazenes, synthetic opioids that the Justice Department said can equal or surpass fentanyl's potency. Stanislav Chernyshov, 30, a Russian national living in the United States, and his brother Vladislav Chernyshov, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizen, were charged in the Eastern District of Virginia. The department said the brothers ran a pill-manufacturing and mailing operation allegedly responsible for more than 1,000 parcels shipped across 49 states, with multiple fatal and non-fatal overdoses among recipients. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
In North Carolina, Alexander Green, 32, of Jacksonville, was arrested in June for operating the vendor "STARLABS" on the Monero-only dark web market DrugHub. The Justice Department said Green's organization distributed illicit narcotics, including fentanyl, and has been linked to two overdose deaths in the Southern District of Ohio. The June enforcement action seized about 200 grams of methamphetamine and more than two kilograms of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. Green faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
In California, Jonatan Gonzales, 35, of South Bakersfield, was arrested after investigators identified him as the dark web vendor "SpeedyPharma," shipping methamphetamine, black tar heroin, cocaine and K2 paper to all 50 states. A search of his home seized 48 pounds of methamphetamine, 588 grams of cocaine, 386 grams of black tar heroin, 3.5 grams of fentanyl, 2.8 grams of carfentanil and $40,565 in cash. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
In New Jersey, five men were arrested for their alleged roles in a New York and New Jersey cell selling counterfeit Xanax, MDMA, ketamine and other drugs by mail; investigators seized about 300 kilograms of drugs from a home in Lodi, a storage unit in Lawrence Township and other locations. In Georgia and Florida, Eric Turner, 30, and Jose Smith, 29, were arrested for selling bulk heroin and fentanyl under the names "Postmates" and "FuegoPacksXpress"; searches seized 4.5 kilograms of heroin, 22 grams of fentanyl, MDMA and alprazolam tablets, and 25 firearms. If convicted, they face up to life in prison.
How Investigators Tracked the Vendors
The operation's method was as important as its results. Rather than a single day of raids, Operation TorNado grew out of intelligence gathered during earlier takedowns: after law enforcement seized several dark web marketplaces in the previous JCODE operation, investigators used the information they obtained to identify vendors and buyers, leading to a series of separate investigations across the 14 countries.
The markets targeted in this round included Archetyp, Bohemia, Nemesis, Kingdom and Tor2Door, all already seized by law enforcement. Vendor accounts were identified and attributed to real individuals selling on those markets and others, including DrugHub, the Justice Department said.
The effort drew on more than a dozen American agencies — the Justice Department, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Postal Inspection Service and others — alongside Europol and police forces in 13 partner countries. Local and state agencies also contributed.
The financial trail was central, since the trade runs on cryptocurrency payments, and the Postal Inspection Service played a key role, since so much of the trade depends on the mail. "Drug traffickers are exploiting the dark web to distribute fentanyl and other deadly drugs into American communities, profiting from addiction and overdose deaths," said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said the operation "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 This Means
Operation TorNado is the clearest demonstration yet of a strategy American and European law enforcement have built over years: seize a marketplace, harvest its data, then use that intelligence to hunt the vendors who traded on it. Each takedown feeds the next — the arrest total grew from 270 in Operation RapTor last year to 354 this time, across more countries.
The operation also shows how the dark web drug trade has changed. The vendors named in the Justice Department's announcement were not small-time dealers: they ran organized operations with manufacturing equipment, nationwide mailing networks and cryptocurrency payment systems, shipping to every state in the country.
At the same time, the results carry a warning. Europol has cautioned that dark web markets continue to adapt after takedowns, with new marketplaces and vendors emerging to replace the ones that are shut down. The nitazenes in the Florida case are another concern: these synthetic opioids can equal or exceed fentanyl in potency, and their appearance in counterfeit pills sold as oxycodone shows how fast the illicit market's chemistry is evolving.
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| The J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Washington, D.C. The FBI led the operation through its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team. (Photo: U.S. Senate) |
What Happens Next
The immediate next step is the court process. Dozens of federal prosecutions are now moving forward in more than 20 federal districts, and the defendants named face sentences ranging from 20 years to life in prison if convicted. An arrest or a charge is not a conviction, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Beyond the courtrooms, the work continues: the Justice Department said a number of investigations remain open to identify more individuals behind dark web accounts. For the public, it is a reminder of how the drug trade now works: deals struck on hidden websites, paid for in cryptocurrency and delivered by mail — but the sellers are not beyond the reach of law enforcement.
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