DOJ and Europol Seize $234 Million in Operation TorNado, Arrest 354

The U.S. Justice Department and Europol announced Thursday that Operation TorNado has produced 354 arrests and the seizure of more than $234 million in cash and virtual currencies, the largest takedown of dark web drug vendors and buyers to date, according to the FBI. The operation ran from May 2025 to October 2026 and was coordinated across 14 countries.

The announcement came from the department's Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, or JCODE, an FBI-led group created in 2018. Officials described TorNado as the sixth and most extensive internationally coordinated action since JCODE's founding, building on last year's Operation RapTor. Europol published a parallel statement the same day.

The sweep targeted vendors and buyers active on five dark web markets already seized by law enforcement: Archetyp, Bohemia, Nemesis, Kingdom and Tor2Door. Investigators also identified accounts on DrugHub, on forums, on single-vendor shops and on encrypted messaging services.

What was seized, and what was not disclosed?

The physical seizures included roughly 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs worldwide — fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA — plus 38 pill presses and 209 firearms. That drug volume is roughly the weight of a fully loaded semi-trailer, removed from circulation over an 18-month window.

Europol put the European share at more than €60 million in cash and cryptocurrencies, alongside 950 kilograms of drugs and 57 firearms. The U.S. share exceeded €150 million, about $166 million, plus more than 4.8 metric tons of drugs and 152 firearms. Neither agency split the $234 million total between cash and cryptocurrency, and neither named bitcoin or any other coin in the official figures. Europol said its forensic and blockchain analysis teams traced illicit transactions as part of the work.

What do the individual cases show?

The clearest official window into how vendors were paid comes from the cases the Justice Department highlighted and from court papers filed with the announcement.

• Alexander Green, 32, of Jacksonville, North Carolina, was arrested in June and charged in the Southern District of Ohio with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl. Prosecutors allege he operated a vendor called STARLABS on DrugHub, which they described as a Monero-only dark web market, linked to two overdose deaths. A criminal complaint says undercover purchases from STARLABS were made "in exchange for cryptocurrency." He faces up to 20 years if convicted.
• Brothers Stanislav Chernyshov, 30, and Vladislav Chernyshov, 35, are charged in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiracy to distribute Schedule I synthetic opioids. Prosecutors say they ran the vendor "BarbaraWhite," selling counterfeit oxycodone laced with nitazenes and shipping more than 1,000 parcels across 49 states. A search-warrant affidavit describes bitcoin transfers tied to that account and the Nemesis market. Each faces up to 20 years if convicted.

An indictment or complaint only alleges that crimes were committed; the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Where did the arrests happen?

Operation TorNado led to 132 arrests in the United States, 59 in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary and 41 in Germany, with further arrests in France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Ireland, Czechia, Australia and Finland. Federal prosecutions are underway in more than 20 districts. The department said investigations continue to identify the people behind remaining dark web accounts.

FBI Director Kash Patel called the operation "the largest interagency takedown of Dark Web drug vendors and buyers to date." IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Jarod Koopman, whose agency was part of the JCODE group, framed the financial dimension: "Criminal networks may operate across borders and in the shadows of the Dark Web, but they cannot operate without money."

Both statements promise breadth, yet neither answers the question crypto observers will ask first: how much of the $234 million was digital assets at all. The record shows a combined cash-and-crypto figure, a Monero-only market in at least one featured case, and bitcoin transfers in court affidavits — with no breakdown of the total. As prosecutions proceed across more than 20 districts, further asset-forfeiture filings are the likeliest place where a crypto-specific number will finally surface.