Finland's leading marketplace for narcotics, the site Sipulitie, has been shut down. This follows a collaboration between the Swedish police's national IT crime centre, Swedish prosecutors, and Finland's customs authority Tulli.
"We have infiltrated and identified several key individuals behind the site, as well as sellers and customers", says Björn Eriksson, head of complex cybercrime at the police's national operational unit, Noa, in a press release.
Its associated infrastructure has also been shut down. The site had used servers located in Swedish server halls and targeted a Finnish-speaking and English-speaking market, including likely Swedish customers.
The site was launched in February 2023 on the "darknet", hidden and shadowy parts of the internet. The turnover is estimated by Tulli to have exceeded 1.3 million euros.
The administrator behind the site has been detained. The person was also behind a precursor to Sipulitie, as well as a chat-based trading platform for narcotics. Both have been shut down.
Europol has also been involved in the operation.
"The Finnish investigation is an example of how international cooperation is crucial in combating serious crime", says Björn Eriksson.
