Suspected admin of dark web drug site Monopoly Market extradited to US from Austria

BERLIN — Austrian authorities said Monday they have extradited the suspected administrator of a vast dark web marketplace for drugs and other illicit goods to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Milomir Desnica of running the Monopoly Market site and facilitating $18 million in illegal drug transactions using cryptocurrencies.

Authorities in the U.S. and Europe last month announced the arrest of nearly 300 people on both sides of the Atlantic and the seizure of more than $53 million in a bust of the site, which was the largest operation of its kind. The dark web is a part of the internet that is hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through specialized anonymity-providing tools.

Desnica, a citizen of Croatia and Serbia, was arrested in Vienna last November and handed over to U.S. authorities Friday, Austria's Federal Criminal Police said.