The United States arrested two Israelis for allegedly operating a website which served as a gateway to illegal marketplaces on the darknet, according to an Associated Press report. The FBI released a statement on Wednesday on the arrest of the two Israelis, one in Israel and the other in France, as well as the closure of the website.
The FBI has accused the Israelis of making over $15 million dollars in kickbacks from the website, which has been in operation since 2013. A Pittsburgh grand jury returned indictments against the two men for a money laundering conspiracy.
DeepDotWeb was “a one-stop information center for people who were trying to access the dark web," according to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady.
The website, DeepDotWeb, allowed users to access marketplaces selling various illegal products or services including stolen financial information, assault rifles, illegal narcotics and malicious software.
The darknet exists within an encrypted part of the Internet where illicit trading takes place. It's inaccessible to the public without special tools but its structure is superimposed on the Internet.