Hansa Market (2015-2017)
eventThe Blackmail Network · Media & Managed Opposition · Darknet & Cyber
Police secretly ran a major drug marketplace for nearly a month, quietly harvesting users' identities the whole time.
Who they are
Hansa Market, a darknet marketplace that ran from 2015 to 2017 out of Lithuania.
What they do
The engine uses it as a textbook example of authorities running a criminal site as a trap.
How it works
Dutch police seized it about a month before the bigger AlphaBay takedown and then operated it secretly as a honeypot for 27 days, altering the site's code to capture users' unencrypted messages, passwords, encryption keys and real-world delivery addresses.
Why it matters
It matters as a confirmed case of law enforcement running an operation-as-illusion at scale, a template the engine treats as canonical.
The engine's record — word for word
Darknet market operating August 2015 - July 2017 from Lithuania. Pre-seized by Dutch National Police NHTCU one month before AlphaBay takedown. **Operated covertly as LE honeypot for 27 days** — Dutch police altered site code to capture unencrypted communications, harvest passwords, log PGP keys, record physical delivery addresses. Confirmed honeypot at scale. Engine-canonical kayfabe template.
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