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A 33-year-old man from Serbia has been extradited from Austria to the United States to face charges of running a criminal darknet drugs marketplace called "Monopoly Market."
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the suspect, Milomir Desnica, is charged with facilitating $18 million in illegal drug transactions through his website.
The suspect who was arrested in Austria in November 2022 was indicted on July 26, 2022, with the Department of Justice announcing the charges last Friday.
Milomir Desnica now faces one count for conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
The Monopoly market was a dark web marketplace launched in 2019 to sell illegal narcotic substances, including opioids, psychedelics, stimulants, and prescription medications.
According to the DOJ, Desnica personally verified each registered vendor to ensure they hold the illegal substances they claimed to sell, even asking them to produce photographic evidence of their inventory.
Desnica allegedly used at least two cryptocurrency exchange services between April 2020 and July 2022 to obscure the trace, launder his crime proceeds, and then sell the cryptocurrency to Serbian p2p traders for fiat money.
In December 2021, U.S. investigators seized Monopoly Market's hosting server with the help of cyber police forces in Germany and Finland.
On analysis of the seized server, law enforcement identified records of the narcotics sales facilitated by Monopoly, financial records documenting cryptocurrency payments on Monopoly, an online forum associated with Monopoly, communications from the Monopoly operator to vendors, commission payment invoices, and more.
In May 2023, an international law enforcement operation codenamed 'SpecTor' arrested 288 vendors of the Monopoly market and seized €50.8 million ($55.9M) in cash and cryptocurrency.
These arrests were done by analyzing data retrieved from Monopoly's server, exposing buyers and sellers active on the platform and Desnica was identified as the operator of Monopoly.
Desnica has to face a life sentence, the maximum penalty for distributing methamphetamine, while the money laundering charge carries a maximum term of 20 years.
If convicted, Desnica will also have to forfeit any property linked to his criminal activity, derived or obtained directly or indirectly from darknet drug sales.
Image Credits : Spiceworks
