German and US authorities shut down world’s largest online darknet marketplace, Hydra

The German Federal Criminal Police, in collaboration with US authorities, have seized the world’s largest and longest-running darknet market Hydra. Particularly, the authorities seized Hydra servers and cryptocurrency wallets containing bitcoin worth $25 million.

Hydra, an online criminal marketplace used predominantly in Russian-speaking countries, allowed criminals to buy and sell illicit goods and services. These ranged from illegal drugs and fake identification documents to money laundering and cyber hacking services. All these goods and services were provided anonymously in a manner that kept the stakeholders concealed from law enforcement. All Hydra transactions took place in cryptocurrency and Hydra’s operators charged a commission on each of these transactions. Since 2015, Hydra has received cryptocurrency worth over $5.2 billion. In 2021, this marketplace represented nearly 80% of all darknet market cryptocurrency transactions.

US law enforcement has also imposed criminal charges against Russia resident Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov. Since November 2015, Pavlov administered Hydra’s servers through his company Promservice Ltd. These servers allowed the market to serve as a platform for thousands of drug dealers and other such criminals to distribute large volumes of illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services. Moreover, the Pavlov’s Promservice allowed criminals to launder billions of dollars obtained from the sales of illicit goods and services. 

Source: US Department of Justice