MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) — A total of 17 suspects have been arrested globally and 414 websites offering illegal goods and services have been closed over the past week as part of an international crackdown codenamed "Operation Onymous", the Guardian reported Friday.
Troels Oerting, head of the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3), told the Guardian that the operation's biggest target was Silk Road 2.0, an underground online drugs and contraband goods marketplace but another 413 illicit services based on the Tor anonymity network were shut down as well. According to the Guardian, 17 people were arrested worldwide on suspicion of cybercrimes, six of them British nationals.
The arrests were made and the sites have been seized as part of a joint law enforcement operation between the United States and 16 European countries with the participation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ICE Homeland Security Investigations and European law enforcement agencies acting through Europol and Eurojust.
During the operation about $1 million in digital currency bitcoin, as well as drugs, guns and some $220,000 in cash, was seized by authorities.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Blake Benthall, also known by the nickname Defcon, Silk Road's alleged operator, was arrested in San Francisco. Silk Road 2.0, launched in November 2013, reportedly enabled some 100,000 worldwide to buy and sell illegal goods and services.
