Finnish Customs, working together with Swedish police, has successfully shut down the Sipulitie marketplace, a dark web platform used for illegal activities, including the anonymous sale of drugs. The site, active since February 2023, operated on the encrypted Tor network and was available in both Finnish and English.
Sipulitie, which provided a platform for illegal drug transactions under the protection of anonymity, generated a reported revenue of €1.3 million, according to the site’s administrator who posted the figure on public forums.
We have been actively fighting criminal activities on the dark web for years, using a variety of methods,” said Hannu Sinkkonen, Head of Supervision at Finnish Customs. “Collaboration between national and international authorities is key to combating online crime.
Criminal Network Uncovered
Sipulitie had a predecessor, Sipulimarket, which launched in April 2019. This Finnish-language platform also facilitated illegal drug and doping sales in an anonymous environment. Finnish Customs, with help from Polish authorities, shut down Sipulimarket in December 2020. It is believed that Sipulimarket had a turnover exceeding €2 million.
During the investigation, authorities discovered that after Sipulimarket was shut down, the same person launched the Sipulitie marketplace and continued to operate it. The individual is also suspected of being behind another drug-selling site called “Tsätti,” which was launched in 2022. Finnish Customs has now also taken down Tsätti.
Through the investigation, the identities of the operators behind Sipulitie, Sipulimarket, and Tsätti have been revealed, including moderators and customer service representatives who helped manage the sites. Additionally, Finnish Customs has identified many of the buyers and sellers who used Sipulitie to trade drugs.
The investigation, which involved close cooperation with Swedish police, Europol, and various Finnish police units, is ongoing.
