In the first arc of the anime series Lupin the 3rd Part V, Lupin III steals digital currency from the “Marco Polo” darknet market. He recommends verifying market employees carefully, and to weed out law enforcement infiltration through barium meal tests. Prof. Jorge Lasmar is Professor of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC Minas), Brazil and visiting professor at the Military Police Academy of Minas Gerais. Prof. Lasmar holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Prof. Lasmar is the Regional Coordinator (Brazil) of the Terrorism Research Network (TRI) and the co-director of the Research Network on Terrorism, Radicalisation, and Transnational Crime (TRAC).
- Apart from the dark web markets that are operating online today, some raided platforms influenced many markets.
- The intensity of cyberattacks and data breaches targeting Paraguay and other countries in South America is alarming.
- One of the most common is the exit scam, where a marketplace suddenly disappears and takes everyone’s money with it.
- Before these dark web marketplaces were shut down, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms.
- It maintains a very strict level of user verification and integration with an official Telegram account to provide real-time updates to users.
– Silk Road Launch
Serving 15,000+ users and 1,200+ vendors, it holds an 8% share of darknet drug trading. Known for its robust escrow security and diverse offerings, Abacus is a top choice for 2025. The darknet is used for anonymous communication, accessing censored information, and protecting privacy. You can access it for legitimate purposes like whistleblowing and freedom of expression. However, it’s also used for illegal activities like drug trafficking, weapon sales, and stolen data trading. Law enforcement agencies monitor it for criminal activities, but legitimate users rely on it for privacy protection.
Alphabay rose to prominence with 400,000+ users and $600M yearly trades, ending in a 2017 bust. Latest updates from the darknet trading world as of February 2025—key shifts and developments. Look for ratings below 90% or no escrow—common red flags on markets like Torrez. The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities. Criminal actors that are embedded in, and act from within, the state’s apparatus.
Paraguay 74 Million Citizen Records Leaked On Dark Web
In some cases, established sellers on closed-down markets are welcomed onto new markets as digital “refugees” and have joining fees waived. Compared to its predecessors, Archetyp enforced enhanced security expectations from its users. These included an advanced encryption program known as “Pretty Good Privacy” and a cryptocurrency called Monero.
As of 2020, nearly 57% of the dark web was estimated to contain illegal content, including violence and extremist platforms. Today’s cybercriminals spread their activities across multiple platforms, making them harder to track and shut down. Further north, the towns of Pedro Juan Caballero (Paraguay) and Ponta Porã (Brazil) interlock with one another. Dissecting the settlement, the barely distinguishable Brazil-Paraguay border separates what appears to be one city into two. “You just cross the road, and you go from one country to another, there are no border authorities there at all,” says Nickson.
Data Sheets
The shutdown of Archetyp, a major dark web drug market, demonstrates that law enforcement takedowns have only short-term effects, as such markets quickly re-emerge and adapt. Persistent trade and resilient user communities limit the long-term impact of these interventions. Focusing solely on dark web markets may overlook broader digital harms occurring on mainstream platforms. Silk Road, AlphaBay, WallStreet and Monopoly Market are all familiar names in the digital graveyard of the dark web. Before these dark web marketplaces were shut down, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms. Archetyp launched in May 2020 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular dark web markets with an estimated total transaction volume of €250 million (A$446 million).
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay function as both final destinations and transit points for this cocaine. Brazil and Uruguay especially, have emerged in recent years as a key source for large shipments of the drug destined for Europe, Africa and the rest of the world. Our research clearly illustrated that cocaine functions as a key driver of organized crime in this region. It also facilitates corollary crimes like corruption, homicides, money laundering, fraud and contributes to an escalating cycle of lethal violence by OCGs and security forces in the region.
- Resecurity has identified 7.4 million records containing personally identifiable information (PII) of Paraguayan citizens leaked on the dark web today.
- The legality depends on your activities and your country’s specific laws regarding darknet use.
- While this topic may seem distant for most people, understanding how these spaces operate is crucial.
- Argentina’s and Uruguay’s seaports are also increasingly being exploited for cocaine shipments, with local criminal groups involved and brokering deals with larger regional and/or global entities, like the PCC and ‘Ndrangheta.
In Ciudad Del Este, Latin America’s Lawless Capital Of Contraband, $500 Goes A Long Way
OCGs that operate in the TBA are also increasingly heterogeneous and often include a number of diverse actors, making them strucutrally more fragmented and complex. Their networked globalised structure also encourages the outsourcing of criminality and increasingly interfaces with local markets and players. Given this dynamic and complex reality our key policy recommendation is the need for a focused intelligence gathering effort and a patient, long-termed, intelligence-led inter-agency response.
Security Update:
Prof. Lasmar is a member of the Commission for Professional Certification in Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (CPLD-FT, IPLD) and part of the Network of Experts of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime (GI-TOC). Prof. Lasmar provides lectures, training and consultations for several public and private institutions in Brazil and abroad. Prof. Lasmar has provided testimony to the Brazilian Federal Congress in Brasilia on multiple occasions, published extensively, and is a frequent media commentator on terrorism and political violence having been awarded several professional and academic awards. Beyond drugs, there are now ever-growing examples of generative AI being used for sexual deepfakes across schools and even of public figures, including the recent case of NRL presenter Tiffany Salmond.
Shuttered Dark Web Marketplaces
Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Index ranked Paraguay 128 of 180 countries. One of the most common is the exit scam, where a marketplace suddenly disappears and takes everyone’s money with it. It’s been a constant back-and-forth between cybercriminals and law enforcement, with each new site trying to be smarter and more secure than the last. These sites cater to cybercriminals seeking valuable data, such as credit card numbers, login credentials, and personal information. Jair Bolsonaro has taken the reigns in Brazil after being elected on a mandate that viciously attacked crime and corruption. His protectionist ideals have drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, with Bolsonaro’s deputy, Márcio Tadeu de Lemos, even suggesting the construction of “a very high wall” along the Paraguayan border.
It had more than 600,000 users worldwide and 17,000 listings consisting mainly of illicit drugs including MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine. Last week, one of the dark web’s most prominent drug marketplaces—Archetyp—was shut down in an international, multi-agency law enforcement operation following years of investigations. It was touted as a major policing win and was accompanied by a slick cyberpunk-themed video. You can legally browse darknet sites for legitimate purposes like research or privacy protection. However, engaging in illegal activities on the darknet is against the law and can result in serious criminal charges. If you access illegal content or participate in criminal transactions, you face legal consequences.
A timeline of darknet marketplace evolution, from Silk Road to 2025’s top players. The criminal markets score is represented by the pyramid base size and the criminal actors score is represented by the pyramid height, on a scale ranging from 1 to 10. The resilience score is represented by the panel height, which can be identified by the side of the panel.
The anonymity and encryption provided in dark markets create a haven for cybercriminals and nation-state actors to buy and sell dangerous assets while evading detection. Dark web markets have exploded in scale and reach in 2025, becoming the most dangerous hubs for trading drugs, stolen data, and hacking tools. These anonymous marketplaces—operating mainly on the Tor network—are now a primary threat vector for businesses and cybersecurity professionals. Illicit goods, especially cocaine, make their way from Southern Cone countries, often via the TBA to these ports and onwards to Europe, America and other markets.
Darknet History
The legality depends on your activities and your country’s specific laws regarding darknet use. Established in 2019, Russian Market is a well-known and highly regarded data store on the dark web, specializing in the sale of PII and various forms of stolen data. Despite its name, the marketplace operates primarily in English and serves a global audience. It has gained a reputation for being a reliable source of high-quality data for cybercriminals.
