Law enforcement agencies across the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand arrested 354 alleged dark web drug traffickers and other criminals, seizing more than $234 million in cash and cryptocurrency, the Justice Department and Europol announced Thursday.
The Justice Department called the operation, known as TorNado, the largest takedown in the history of its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement task force, or JCODE. The department said it targeted vendors who allegedly sold to tens of thousands of U.S. residents.
Approximately 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs were seized worldwide, including fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA.
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More than $234 million in cash and virtual currencies also were seized through the operation.
The operation ran roughly 17 months, from May 2025 to October. It is the sixth internationally coordinated action by JCODE since its creation in 2018, and the Justice Department called it the most extensive. It follows last year’s Operation RapTor.
Of 354 arrests, 132 were in the U.S., followed by 59 in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary, 41 in Germany and 23 in France. Other arrests were made in New Zealand, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Ireland, Czechia, Australia and Finland.
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