The Justice Department said Thursday that Operation TorNado, a global sweep of dark-web drug vendors and buyers, ended with 354 arrests. FBI Director Kash Patel put 132 of those arrests in the United States. Investigators also seized drugs, weapons and over $234 million in cash and virtual currencies, the department said.

Europol, which coordinated the operation, said it ran from May 2025 to October 2026, covered 14 countries and included hundreds of house searches. The DOJ called it the largest takedown in the history of its Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement team, aimed at vendors who sold to tens of thousands of U.S. residents. The department listed approximately 5.7 metric tons of illicit drugs, 38 pill presses and 209 firearms among the seizures worldwide.

AFP reports that Britain had the next most arrests at 59, followed by Hungary with 45, Germany with 41 and France with 23. In the U.S., more than 4.8 tonnes of drugs were recovered, along with 152 firearms.

"Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from identifying and dismantling drug trafficking networks," Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the DOJ release. FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia told reporters in Washington that the operation should serve as a warning to anyone who sells fentanyl on the dark web, AFP reports. He said the anonymity sellers count on is no shield, and that agents will go after them whether they work from a basement, a warehouse, across the street or across the water.

The Justice Department release gives the full country count. Beyond the five largest totals, agents made 13 arrests in New Zealand, 12 in the Netherlands, 11 in Slovenia, six in Austria, five in Ireland, four in Czechia, two in Australia and one in Finland. The department said the people arrested were dark-web drug traffickers and fraud suspects who made tens of thousands of sales across the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The drugs seized included fentanyl and other opioids, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA, according to the DOJ.

AFP reports the European seizures came to nearly one tonne of drugs, including amphetamines, ketamine, MDMA, cocaine and cannabis. In the United States, AFP puts the cash and cryptocurrency seized at 150 million euros, which it converts to US$166 million. Raia told reporters that investigators matched online identities to real-world offenders, traced the money and took apart key parts of the infrastructure that let these networks operate, AFP reports.

The DOJ said the investigations drew on its Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, its Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and its Office of International Affairs, along with a department prosecutor based in The Hague. Europol's dark-web team and Eurojust worked with national police forces from Australia to the United Kingdom, including Britain's National Crime Agency and Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office. Attorney General Blanche said those partnerships, through the JCODE team, crippled dark-web vendors and will bring alleged traffickers to justice.

The DOJ says these sellers reached tens of thousands of U.S. residents from behind anonymous accounts.

Europol warns the dark-web markets keep adapting after each takedown.

Attorney General Blanche says the DOJ will keep hunting bad actors around the globe who threaten American lives.