Nearly 300 arrested in ‘largest international operation’ targeting fentanyl and opioid trafficking: DOJ

Nearly 300 other folks had been arrested on account of a years-long, three-continent operation targeting darknet trafficking of fentanyl and opioids, the Justice Department and FBI introduced Tuesday.

Under “Operation SpecTor,” the “largest ever operation targeting the trafficking of fentanyl and opioids on the dark web,” 288 other folks had been arrested inside the remaining two years, and greater than 850 kilograms of gear — together with 64 pounds of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics — meant to be offered at the darknet had been seized, DOJ stated.

“Our message to criminals on the dark web is this: You can try to hide in the furthest reaches of the internet, but the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes,” Attorney General Merrick Garland stated at a news convention Tuesday.

Law enforcement additionally seized 117 firearms and $53.4 million in money and digital currencies as a part of the operation, in step with DOJ.

In one case highlighted by means of DOJ, a Florida guy was once sentenced to 16 years in jail overdue remaining yr after it was once printed that he and his co-conspirators had an inventory of greater than 6,000 darknet consumers to whom they trafficked fentanyl, heroin and meth.

The Sinaloa cartel, a drug trafficking ring that DOJ has accused of ugly crimes, and the Jalisco cartel had been singled out as in particular damaging to Americans.

“The Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels, and the global networks they operate are killing Americans by sending fentanyl into the United States. Their associates distribute this fentanyl into communities across America by every means possible, including the dark web,” stated Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, including that the company “is committed to shutting down the fentanyl supply chain from beginning to end.”

“The availability of dangerous substances like fentanyl on dark net marketplaces is helping to fuel the crisis that has claimed far too many American lives,” FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in a Tuesday commentary. “That’s why we will continue to join forces with our law enforcement partners around the globe to attack this problem together.”

In 2021, a report 107,622 Americans died from drug poisoning or overdose, with 66% connected to artificial opioids like fentanyl, the Department of Justice stated in a press unlock remaining yr.