The US Treasury Department on Tuesday announced sanctions against an Iranian national accused of running an online darknet marketplace used for trading drugs and cybercrime services.
The marketplace, named Nemesis Market, was shut down in March 2024 as a result of a law enforcement operation conducted by Germany, the US and Lithuania.
German authorities announced after the takedown of Nemesis server infrastructure that more than 150,000 user accounts and over 1,100 seller accounts were registered on the site, which was accessible on the Tor network.
Nemesis provided a platform for drug trafficking and the trade of fraudulently obtained goods and data, as well as cybercrime services such as DDoS attacks, phishing, and ransomware.
The Treasury Department announced sanctions against Iran-based Behrouz Parsarad, who is believed to be “the sole administrator of Nemesis”.
The sanctions are mainly over Nemesis’ use for narcotics trafficking, with authorities saying that the marketplace facilitated the sale of nearly $30 million worth of drugs between 2021 and 2024.
Parsarad, who allegedly held full control over the website and its cryptocurrency wallets, pocketed millions of dollars through the fees he charged on every transaction. He also helped Nemesis users launder funds.
“Since the takedown of Nemesis, Parsarad has discussed setting up a new darknet marketplace to take the place of Nemesis with vendors that were once active on the marketplace,” the Treasury Department said.
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