The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Iran-based Behrouz Parsarad, the sole administrator of Nemesis, an online darknet marketplace that was taken down in 2024 following an international law enforcement operation.
Prior to its takedown, Nemesis was a platform where narcotics traffickers and cybercriminals freely traded illegal drugs and services, including fentanyl, money laundering services, false identification documents, and hacking services. The marketplace had over 30,000 active users and 1,000 vendors, facilitating nearly $30 million in illegal drug sales worldwide between 2021 and 2024, including to the US.
Nemesis was established in 2021 as a criminal marketplace on the darknet, a part of the internet accessible only through special browsers that ensure anonymity. Parsarad, who controlled the marketplace and its virtual currency wallets, profited from transaction fees and was involved in laundering virtual currencies for criminals.
OFAC’s sanctions designation is its first action as part of the FBI-led Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) Team. On March 20, 2024, law enforcement agencies from the US, Germany, and Lithuania seized Nemesis' servers. Since then, Parsarad has reportedly considered launching a new darknet marketplace to replace Nemesis.
