German police announced on Tuesday (5) that they had knocked down the biggest market for drugs online from Internet. On the darknet, the Hydra platform has been selling illegal substances since 2015. The site also stole credit card data. About $25 million worth of bitcoins were seized.
The drug e-commerce had more than 17 million customer accounts and another 19.000 from suppliers, according to German police. The illegal market used false documents to mask the identity of those involved.
According to a statement from the German authorities involved in the investigation, Hydra sold at least 1,23 billion euros in 2020 alone. The suspects will be investigated for “operating criminal internet trading platforms on a commercial basis”.
A spokesman for the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office for Cybercrime told AFP that it is not yet known whether Hydra also has servers in other countries. But, apparently, Germany was the main hub of the illegal platform's network infrastructure.
Investigations on the site of drugs online began in August 2021 and also involved several US officials. A service used by the platform to hide digital transactions made investigations difficult, according to those involved.
A report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis points out that Hydra accounted for 75% of sales in the global darknet market in 2020.
“Hydra has developed sophisticated and unique operations, such as an Uber-like system for assigning drug deliveries to anonymous couriers, who leave their packages in hidden, out-of-the-way public places, commonly referred to as 'drops,'” the report describes.
“That way, no physical exchanges are made and, unlike traditional darknet markets, providers don't have to take the risk of using the postal system,” adds the text.
