FBI PRESS RELEASE: An international law enforcement operation targeting dark web drug trafficking led to 354 arrests and the seizure of approximately 5.7 metric tons of illegal drugs, more than $234 million in cryptocurrency and cash, and 209 firearms, authorities announced Thursday.
Operation TorNado ran from May 2025 through October 2026 and targeted drug vendors, buyers and trafficking networks operating on dark web marketplaces.
The FBI and its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement partners worked with authorities in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Investigations remain underway in several countries to identify additional suspects operating behind anonymous online accounts.
“Operation TorNado confronted one of the most urgent public safety threats of our time—the trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly drugs through the dark web,” FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said at a Nov. 12, 2026, news conference.
“For over a year, our teams, in conjunction with the Homeland Security Task Forces around the U.S., worked across jurisdictions, across borders, and across time zones to identify and dismantle criminal networks operating in the shadows of the internet.”
In the United States, authorities reported 132 arrests and seized approximately 4.8 metric tons of illegal drugs, more than $166 million in cryptocurrency and cash, 152 firearms and 38 pill presses. The drugs included more than 354 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced pills.
Quick fact checklist
- Date corrected: The announcement was Nov. 12, 2026, rather than 2027.
- Worldwide totals: 354 arrests; approximately 5.7 metric tons of drugs; more than $234 million in cash and cryptocurrency; 209 firearms.
- Duplicate removed: The 4.8-metric-ton figure refers to U.S. seizures.
- Country count needs clarification: Europol reports 14 participating countries, but the supplied arrest breakdown names 13 countries, including the United States.
- Arrest figures add up: The listed countries account for all 354 arrests.
- Allegations preserved: Individual case descriptions retain “accused,” “suspected” or “allegedly.”
Investigations included:
- Washington: The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Drug Enforcement Administration arrested two brothers charged in Florida with operating the dark web vendor account “BarbaraWhite.” The account allegedly sold counterfeit oxycodone pills. Laboratory testing found that the pills contained nitazenes, synthetic opioids that can be more potent than fentanyl.
- Missouri: A Kansas City investigation, supported by the FBI’s Portland office and postal inspectors, targeted an Oregon-based drug trafficking organization accused of selling cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and marijuana through a Telegram channel and shipping the drugs through the U.S. Postal Service. In a separate Kansas City investigation opened in February 2026, the FBI, DEA and postal inspectors traced purchases from an unidentified dark web vendor to a reshipper in the New Jersey area.
- Pennsylvania: Postal inspectors, the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations and local partners identified a California-based dark web vendor known as “SpeedyPharma,” who allegedly shipped methamphetamine and other drugs nationwide. Investigators seized approximately 283 parcels believed to contain drugs.
- Houston: An investigation involving Australian authorities and Homeland Security Investigations began after suspicious drug shipments were detected in the United States. Authorities intercepted approximately 35,000 LSD tabs in the mail and later seized roughly 750,000 tabs, 60 grams of LSD crystal, other drugs, cash and cryptocurrency. Two people were arrested and charged in Australia. Australian authorities described the seizure as the largest of its kind in the state of Victoria.
- Ohio: The FBI, DEA, postal inspectors, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and local partners traced packages linked to two suspected overdose deaths to a North Carolina suspect. The suspect allegedly operated the dark web vendor account “Starlabs” on the DrugHub marketplace. Investigators seized approximately 200 grams of methamphetamine and more than 2 kilograms of counterfeit pills.
Outside the United States, authorities reported 59 arrests in the United Kingdom, 45 in Hungary, 41 in Germany, 23 in France, 13 in New Zealand, 12 in the Netherlands, 11 in Slovenia, six in Austria, five in Ireland, four in the Czech Republic, two in Australia and one in Finland.