Binance Aids International Drug Enforcement, Exposing Dark Web Drug Financial Flow
The world’s largest virtual asset trading platform by registered users and trading volume, Binance, today revealed its collaboration with law enforcement in the United States and Taiwan to assist in the dismantling of a significant dark web drug market known as the “Incognito Market.”
This website is one of the largest drug markets globally, having sold drugs worth over $100 million (approximately NT$3 billion) during its operation. Binance’s cooperation has become a crucial asset in this international law enforcement operation, helping to successfully dismantle the criminal network and freeze illegal funds valued at over $3.5 million (approximately NT$100 million).
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced the results of an international joint crackdown code-named “Operation RapTor,” which targeted dark web activities and drug trafficking, setting a record for the largest scale of enforcement actions ever conducted. Among the significant achievements of this operation was the takedown of the “Incognito Market.”
Global Dark Web Drug Market “Incognito Market” Raided, Taiwanese Suspect Captured
In this case, Binance’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) provided critical intelligence to law enforcement agencies in Taiwan and the United States. They played a key role in assisting law enforcement in investigating the identities of suspects, while Binance also froze virtual assets worth approximately $3.5 million, contributing to the dismantling of this vast global drug network.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice and public records, the website allowed users to anonymously search for and purchase over a thousand types of drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. To facilitate transactions, the platform even established its own “banking” system, which was crucial for its operations, relying primarily on virtual assets as the main medium of exchange.
However, despite the operators setting up layers of firewalls to evade detection, law enforcement successfully identified the connections between the virtual asset wallets used by the platform’s “banking” system and the wallet addresses of the website’s administrators. With substantial evidence to support these findings, it was ultimately confirmed that the actual person responsible for the website was a Taiwanese suspect with the surname Lin, who often used the alias “Pharaoh” and oversaw all operational affairs of the platform.
Currently, this suspect was arrested last year and has confessed to U.S. law enforcement, including charges of drug conspiracy, money laundering, and conspiracy to sell counterfeit and misbranded drugs.
Nils Andersen-Röed, the global head of Binance’s Financial Intelligence Unit, stated, “Even though criminals meticulously attempt to evade tracking using various encryption technologies, this case once again proves that the blockchain is not a lawless territory; the digital footprints left by virtual asset transactions have once again become an important source of intelligence in combating crime.”
Nils emphasized, “In the face of increasingly complex virtual asset investigation cases, such international cooperation and public-private collaboration are no longer options but necessary conditions.”
Previously, Binance announced its key role in another case led by Europol, which dismantled one of the world’s largest child exploitation networks, Kidflix, including assisting in exposing the internal operational mechanisms of Kidflix’s payment infrastructure and identifying over a hundred Kidflix users.
These successful cases not only reflect Binance’s firm commitment to collaborative security but also demonstrate its strong resources and capabilities in combating financial crime and maintaining the security of the virtual asset ecosystem.