The U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against Milomir Desnica, a 33-year-old dual citizen of Croatia and Serbia, accusing him of launching and operating the darknet market “Monopoly” since late 2019. Desnica allegedly profited from commissions earned on all sales conducted on the platform.
In July 2022, a federal grand jury in Washington indicted Desnica on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, as well as money laundering. If convicted, he faces maximum sentences of life imprisonment and 20 years, respectively.
The charges stem from a joint investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Hi-Tech Opioid Task Force and Germany’s Zentrale Kriminalinspektion Oldenburg Cybercrime Unit. Desnica was arrested in Austria on November 2, 2022, based on a provisional arrest warrant.
Following his contestation of the U.S. extradition request, Austrian courts upheld it, leading to his extradition. Desnica is set to make his initial court appearance in Washington, D.C., on Monday, before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols. Monopoly, a darknet market accessible only through the Tor browser, sold various illegal substances, including opioids, stimulants, psychedelics, and prescription medications.
In 2021, undercover U.S. law enforcement agents were able to purchase over 100 grams of methamphetamine from the platform.
The case against Desnica is part of a broader international law enforcement effort named SpecTor, coordinated by Europol, which resulted in the seizure of Monopoly’s criminal infrastructure, the arrest of 288 suspects, and the confiscation of significant amounts of cash, drugs, and firearms in May.
The operation aimed to send a strong message to criminals operating on the dark web, emphasizing the ability of law enforcement to identify and hold them accountable for their illegal activities.
The case was facilitated by German authorities seizing Monopoly’s infrastructure in December 2021, allowing the identification of vendors and customers through digital forensic copies of the market and forum databases provided to the FBI via a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
