Sweden, Finland partner to take down Sipulitie criminal marketplace

An online haven for the sale of narcotics and other criminal goods in Scandinavia was shut down and had its servers seized by law enforcement agencies in Sweden and Finland.

Launched in February 2023 on the Tor network, the Sipulitie marketplace originally focused on Finland before expanding to cover other Scandinavian countries. A predecessor was created in April 2019 but was shut down by Finnish Customs and Polish authorities in December 2020.

Finnish authorities said their investigation revealed the identity of the administrator of both sites as well as other people who served as moderators and customer service agents. Police agencies were also able to identify people who sold and bought things on the platform. 

Finnish Customs said it worked with Swedish Police, Europol and police units in Finland, adding that their investigation is ongoing. Officials did not say if the takedown involved arrests, but network servers for the platform were seized and the Tor website was shut down. 

The administrator of the platform, who was not named, was seen boasting that the site generated more than €1.3 million  (about $1.4 million) throughout its time in operation, according to Finnish Customs. Users conducted sales in both Finnish and English. 

Hannu Sinkkonen, director of enforcement at Finnish Customs, said the takedown was one of several his agency has conducted. 

“Over the years, we at Finnish Customs have intervened effectively using many different methods in the criminal activities taking place on the dark web,” Sinkkonen said. 

Bitdefender Chief Security Strategist Alex Cosoi told Recorded Future News that their researchers provided Finnish Customs with information to aid their investigation into the platform. 

Cosoi said they also assisted with the 2020 take down of Sipulitie’s predecessor. He explained that the operation should serve as “a message to criminals who believe the dark web covers their actions and guarantees their anonymity.” 

“If they become the target of an international effort, they can’t hide,” he said. 

Last year, Finnish authorities worked with Europol to take down another dark web marketplace called PIILOPUOTI. 

The platform also operated on the Tor network, allowing people to smuggle and sell drugs as well as drug paraphernalia into Finland, according to a statement from Finnish Customs.