Administrator of dark web drug trafficking site arrested in Barcelona

Spain's National Police, with the collaboration of Europol, have arrested the administrator of one of the largest drug sales points on the dark web in the province of Barcelona.

The operation was led by the German Bundeskriminalamt BKA and saw participation from six countries in total. 

The investigation has seen seven more people arrested, and saw the infrastructure of the platform, Archetyp Market, raided in the Netherlands. 

The platform functioned as a drug sales market for more than five years with a transaction volume of at least €250 million.

Archetyp Market acted as a sales point for all kinds of drugs for more than five years, accumulating more than 600,000 users worldwide.

According to the National Police, the investigation began in February 2023 after receiving a request for international police collaboration from the German BKA to obtain the identification and location of the administrator of a drug sales point that operated on the dark web from Barcelona.