OFAC designates Iranian administrator of darknet marketplace with Bitcoin and Monero addresses

The US treasure sanctioned an Iranian national for Nemesis, a black drug market and has put on black list nearly 50 cryptographic addresses linked to it.

The US Treasury has taken measures against Behrouz Parsarad, a Iranian National Behind Nemesis, a Darknet market involved in fentanyl and other drug trafficking. In a March 4 announcementThe Office of Foreign Assets Control revealed that it had also sanctioned 49 cryptocurrency addresses linked to the platform.

Founded in 2021, Namesis has become a large center for sales of illegal drugs, offering fentanyl and other substances. According to OFAC, Némesis has counted more than 30,000 active users and 1,000 suppliers and facilitated the sale of nearly $ 30 million in drugs worldwide between 2021 and 2024, including in the United States, based on Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (Xmr) for payments.

“Before its dismantling by the police, drug traffickers and cybercriminals openly exchanged illegal drugs and services on Nemesis, which was designed with integrated money laundering characteristics.”

Ofac

According to the blockchain analysis company, TRM Labs, there are “clear links on the chain between manufacturers of pioneers of Chinese and Chinese drugs”. The funds of suppliers of Namesis would have circulated directly to these suppliers, supporting the production of synthetic opioids.

Nemesis was seized in March 2024 in a joint operation by the American, German and Lithuanian authorities. Officials confiscated about $ 102,000 in cryptocurrency active ingredients. However, Parsarad would have tried to relaunch the platform by contacting former suppliers, which prompted the latest law measures to limit illicit trade.

The repression of Néesis follows similar application actions against other Darknet markets. TRM Labs noted that the Darknet markets generated “more than $ 1.7 billion in revenues” in 2024, with Russian-The platforms of language dominating space and facilitating more than 97% of illicit drug sales via a crypto such as BTC and Tron (Trx).

While the western markets of Darknet struggled due to the pressure of the police, the Russian platforms prospered in low-risk conditions. According to TRM Labs, the Russian ecosystem of Darknet “remained stable throughout 2024, with only four on around 20 markets which cease operations”.