Finnish Authorities Shut Down Major Darknet Marketplace Sipulitie

Finnish Customs, in cooperation with Swedish police, have shut down the Sipulitie marketplace website and confiscated its servers. Sipulitie, a darknet market operating on the Tor network, was launched in February 2023. The site, available in both Finnish and English, served as a platform for illegal drug trade. According to public sources, the platform’s revenue was estimated at around 1.3 million euros.

During the investigation, authorities were able to identify individuals involved in criminal activities on Sipulitie. It was also revealed that the marketplace was a successor to Sipulimarket, a site shut down by customs in 2020. Sipulimarket, launched in 2019, specialized in the sale of drugs and doping substances, with a turnover estimated at over 2 million euros. After the site was closed, the former administrator created Sipulitie, as well as another trading platform called Tsätti, which was also shut down as part of this investigation.

As a result, Finnish Customs and police identified the administrators, moderators, support staff, buyers, and sellers associated with these sites. The investigation is ongoing, with participation from Finnish police, Swedish police, Europol, Polish security services, and cybersecurity company Bitdefender.

Related International Operations

This month, Dutch police also concluded a major investigation into the international darknet platform “Bohemia/Cannabia,” which was one of the largest and longest-running in history. Authorities were able to identify the administrators of the service, two of whom have been arrested.