Noteworthy Dark Web Criminal Cases

Below are just a few examples of the criminal cases and investigations involving offenders who used the Dark Web to facilitate their acts.

Banmeet Singh's $100M+ Dark Web Drug Empire

Banmeet Singh of Haldwani, Northern India was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2024 for creating and leading a multi-million dollar dark web drug enterprise. His crime network completed over 18,000 drug sales on the dark web, hiding the drugs in a shed made to look like a legitimate mail-order business[1].

Operation Dark hunTor Arrests 150 in Nine Countries

In 2021, Operation Dark hunTor resulted in 150 arrests across nine countries for dark web drug trafficking and money laundering offenses[1].

Former Navy Seal Found Guilty in Dark Web CSAM Case

In 2023, former Navy Seal Robert Quido Stella was found guilty of producing, possessing, and accessing unlawful images of minor on the dark web. He paid for a membership to a dark web CSAM site using Bitcoin[1].

Attempt to Hire Dark Web Hitman Backfires

In 2024, a woman from Canberra, Australia pleaded guilty to inciting another to murder after attempting to hire a dark web hitman to murder her wealthy ex-husband. She paid $6,000 in Bitcoin as a down payment for the $20,000 murder-for-hire plot[1].

Cyber Criminal Forum Spanning 20 Countries Taken Down

Operation Shrouded Horizon dismantled an online criminal forum spanning 20 countries[2].

Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Stolen Financial Info on Dark Web

In 2023, Michael D. Mihalo plead guilty to leading a conspiracy to sell stolen financial information of tens of thousands of U.S. victims on dark web markets like Skynet, AlphaBay, Wall Street and Hansa. He earned over $1 million worth of cryptocurrency at the time of the sales[3].

These cases demonstrate the range of criminal activities occurring on the Dark Web, from drug trafficking and money laundering to child exploitation and financial fraud. Law enforcement has had some success in infiltrating dark web markets and forums and tracing suspects despite the supposed anonymity provided by Tor and cryptocurrency[4][5].

Citations:

[1] https://vpnoverview.com/privacy/anonymous-browsing/notorious-dark-web-cases/

[2] https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber/major-cases

[3] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-sell-stolen-financial-information-dark-web

[4] https://blog.tmb.co.uk/cyber-criminals

[5] https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/08/349016/a-dark-web-tycoon-pleads-guilty-but-how-was-he-caught/