Feds Form a Mini-FBI for Dark Web Crypto Crime

Federal investigators from five agencies, including Homeland Security, federal prosecutors, the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration, have formed the Darknet Marketplace and Digital Currency Crimes Task Force, currently operating in Arizona. The task force aims to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that exploit apparent anonymity on the darknet or use digital currency to facilitate crime. DEA Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz said drug traffickers hiding on the darknet "will be aggressively targeted and unmasked." The article cites ChainAnalysis estimates that illicit crypto addresses received $14 billion in 2021, nearly double the $7.8 billion of the prior year.