Crypto Tracing Helps Bust Major Dark Web Network With 350,000 Users
Blockchain intelligence just helped take down one of the world's largest child abuse material networks.
Quick overview
- Blockchain intelligence led to the arrest of a suspected administrator of a major child abuse material network in Brazil.
- The operation involved collaboration between U.S., German, and Brazilian authorities, utilizing crypto tracing to track financial activities.
- Authorities seized dark web platforms with over 21,000 illegal videos and identified shared infrastructure connecting multiple sites.
- The case highlights the growing partnership between law enforcement and blockchain companies to combat crypto-enabled exploitation networks.
Blockchain intelligence just helped take down one of the world’s largest child abuse material networks. Authorities arrested the alleged administrator in Brazil and seized dark web platforms serving over 350,000 users worldwide.
The operation involved U.S., German, and Brazilian authorities working together. They used crypto tracing to track down a Peruvian national who allegedly used mixers and multiple wallets to hide his financial activity, according to TRM Labs.
Brazilian Federal Police made the arrest in September after TRM Labs led the crypto tracing. The raid turned up illegal content. The sites hosted over 21,000 videos—660 hours worth—that got almost 900,000 views. Access? Ten bucks.
The suspect allegedly ran dark web platforms called Videos Yad and Videos Sebick, hosted on German servers. Authorities shut down the servers and posted official seizure notices from Bavaria’s State Criminal Police.
He allegedly operated multiple sites using fake identities, mixers, numerous wallets, and third-party accounts to hide payments. But TRM Labs’ analysis found shared blockchain infrastructure connecting the old and new platforms.
Investigators working with Brazilian police traced customer payments through intermediaries to final cash-outs at Brazilian crypto exchanges. That revealed shared infrastructure across the sites. This digital trail proved critical after the network operated undetected for years.
Ari Redbord from TRM Labs said following the crypto money made the difference. “By following the money, investigators were able to connect fragmented digital identities, expose a transnational criminal network, and bring a long-running operation to an end.”
Law enforcement and blockchain companies are teaming up more to fight crypto-enabled exploitation networks. In June, Elliptic partnered with the Internet Watch Foundation to get live alerts on crypto transactions linked to abuse material. The IWF’s 2024 report showed crypto as the top payment method on such sites, appearing on 60.87% of URLs with payment options.
Last month, Canada’s FINTRAC hit Cryptomus with a record $126 million fine for failing to report thousands of suspicious transactions linked to child exploitation, ransomware, and sanctions evasion. Europol recently seized $330,000 in crypto and arrested seven people connected to a Latvian cybercrime network that used 1,200 SIM box devices for crimes including distributing abuse material.
The operation shows how blockchain’s transparency, once seen as a liability for law enforcement, has become a powerful investigative tool.
- Check out our free forex signals
- Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
- Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
- Open a FREE Trading Account
Save