The U.S. Department of Justice and Europol announced that Operation TorNado, a campaign targeting darknet drug trafficking from May 2025 to October 2026, led to 354 arrests. Authorities seized more than $234 million in cash and virtual currencies, about 5.7 tonnes of drugs and 209 firearms. The Justice Department said investigations into some darknet accounts remain underway.
The arrests included two Florida brothers suspected of operating the BarbaraWhite darknet shop, which allegedly sold counterfeit oxycodone pills containing nitazenes. Chainalysis said marketplace data indicated the vendor sold more than 95,000 counterfeit pills, and estimated that the network’s activity was associated with at least 12 U.S. overdoses, including three deaths.
