International operation targeting dark web opioid traffickers leads to over 350 arrests worldwide

More than 350 suspected dark web drug traffickers have been arrested worldwide in an international operation targeting fentanyl and opioid sales, the United States Department of Justice has announced.

In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the department said Operation TorNado also led to the seizure of over $234 million in cash and virtual currencies. Officers also seized about 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms. The department’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team coordinated the operation with Europol.

“Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from identifying and dismantling drug trafficking networks,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche, who addressed a joint DOJ and FBI press conference.

The operation ran from May 2025 to October 2026 across the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It is the sixth and most extensive internationally coordinated action since JCODE was created in 2018. It targeted vendors and buyers on major dark web markets, including Archetyp, Bohemia, Nemesis, Kingdom and Tor2Door.

Of the 354 arrests, 132 were made in the United States, with 59 in the United Kingdom.

FBI Director Kash Patel described it as “the largest interagency takedown of Dark Web drug vendors and buyers to date,” adding, “The success of the Operation TorNado makes clear that criminals cannot hide behind technology or geography – no matter where you operate, justice will find you.”

Among those charged are brothers Stanislav and Vladislav Chernyshov. They were arrested in Florida for allegedly operating the vendor “BarbaraWhite,” which sold counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with nitazenes. These are synthetic opioids that can equal or surpass fentanyl’s potency.

Federal prosecutions are under way in more than 20 districts, and the department noted that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Still, as Homeland Security Investigations’ John A. Condon put it, “Criminals can operate in the shadows, but they can’t hide from justice.”