Overview
Operation Bayonet was a coordinated international law enforcement operation in July 2017 that simultaneously took down AlphaBay—then the largest darknet marketplace—and revealed that Dutch police had secretly been running Hansa Market for a month, capturing data on thousands of users who fled from AlphaBay.
The Masterstroke
What made Operation Bayonet unprecedented was its coordination. Law enforcement didnt just take down two markets—they used one as a trap:
- June 20, 2017: Dutch police secretly seize Hansa Market and begin running it undercover
- July 5, 2017: AlphaBay goes offline—users panic
- July 5-20: Thousands of users migrate to Hansa, unaware its a police honeypot
- July 13, 2017: AlphaBay founder Alexandre Cazes found dead in Thai prison (apparent suicide)
- July 20, 2017: DOJ announces AlphaBay takedown, reveals Hansa was a trap
The Hansa Honeypot
While users thought Hansa was a safe alternative to AlphaBay, Dutch police were:
- Collecting login credentials in plaintext (they removed password hashing)
- Recording all messages between buyers and vendors
- Tracking Bitcoin transactions to real identities
- Capturing shipping addresses for drug orders
- Planting tracking pixels in downloadable files
The Result: Over 10,000 addresses of Hansa buyers were collected and shared with police worldwide. Hundreds of arrests followed in the months after.
AlphaBay: The Takedown
AlphaBay was the largest darknet market in history at the time of its seizure, with over 400,000 users and 40,000 vendors selling drugs, stolen data, malware, and counterfeit goods.
Alexandre Cazes (Alpha02)
The 25-year-old Canadian founder was arrested in Thailand on July 5, 2017. His OPSEC failure: he used his personal email (pimp_alex_91@hotmail.com) in AlphaBays early password recovery system. He was found dead in his cell on July 12—Thai authorities ruled it suicide.
Impact
Immediate Chaos
The double takedown sent shockwaves through the darknet. Trust in markets collapsed. Users realized any market could be law enforcement.
Long-term Arrests
The Hansa data led to arrests for years afterward. Many users who thought they were safe were tracked down months later.
Market Fragmentation
Instead of a dominant market, the ecosystem fragmented into dozens of smaller markets, making it harder to trust any single platform.