The Finnish Customs office took down the website and seized the servers for the darknet marketplace ‘Sipulitie’ where criminals sold illegal narcotics anonymously.
The agency’s announcement earlier today says that the site catered to both Finnish and English-speaking users, and that its operator claimed a turnover of 1.3 million Euros (approximately $1.42 million).
The operation was possible thanks to an international collaboration involving the Finnish Customs, Europol, the Swedish police, Polish law enforcement authorities, and researchers at Bitdefender cybersecurity company.
Sipultie launched in February 2023 after authorities seized its predecessor, ‘Sipulimarket,’ in December 2020. Sipulimarket had made more than two million Euros since it started in April 2019.
Following the takedown, the same administrator created Sipultie and also a separate chat-based platform dedicated to drug sales called Tsätti, launched in 2022.
Authorities took offline both Sipultie and Tsätti and marked the website with a banner informing visitors of the take down operation.
Finnish Customs’ Director of Enforcement Hannu Sinkkonen confirming the seizure added that the main operator, moderators, and users of the marketplaces have been identified, so arrests could be announced soon.
“During the investigation, the identities of the administrators of Sipulitie, Sipulimarket, and Tsätti have been discovered. The identities of moderators and customer service agents supporting the administration have also been uncovered. Using the seized material, drug sellers and buyers operating on Sipulitie have also been identified.” – Finnish Customs
Following the takedown of Hydra in 2022, the largest drugs-dedicated darknet market in the world, communities associated with this type of crime moved to smaller, localized platforms or even mobile applications.
However, law enforcement investigations and operations continued. In March 2024, the German police seized the infrastructure of the Nemesis Market, which had been facilitating drug sales since 2021.
In May 2024, the suspected owner and operator of Incognito Market, estimated to have sold over $100,000,000 worth of narcotics, was arrested in New York.
Earlier this month, the Dutch police arrested the administrator of the drug market Bohemia/Cannabia, which, at its peak, in September 2023, generated a revenue of more than12 million Euros ($13.1 million).
