The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against Behrouz Parsarad for running Nemesis, a darknet marketplace that sold illegal drugs.
As part of these actions, OFAC has also blacklisted 49 crypto addresses, including 44 for Bitcoin and 5 for Monero, connected to the operation.
Founder Accused of Laundering Millions
“As the administrator of the Nemesis darknet marketplace, Parsarad sought to build—and continues to try to re-establish—a safe haven to facilitate the production, sale, and shipment of illegal narcotics like fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.
According to a press release, the Iranian national created and controlled Nemesis, managing its crypto wallets and collecting fees from every transaction. Authorities estimate he made millions of dollars from these fees. He also helped criminals launder money by moving the digital assets of drug traffickers and cybercriminals using the platform.
Launched in 2021, Nemesis was a hub for illegal activity on the darknet. Before authorities dismantled it in 2024, drug dealers and computer criminals used the platform to trade illegal substances, such as fentanyl, obtain fake identification documents, and acquire hacking services. The site was also designed with mechanisms to hide financial transactions, facilitating money laundering.
At its peak, Nemesis had over 30,000 active users and 1,000 vendors. For three years, the platform enabled the sale of drugs worth nearly $30 million worldwide, including transactions affecting the United States.
Nemesis’ Takedown
On March 20, 2024, a coordinated law enforcement effort by the United States, Germany, and Lithuania led to the seizure of the site’s servers. As part of the operation, authorities confiscated about $102,000 in crypto assets connected to it.
Following the shutdown, Parsarad has reportedly been discussing with former vendors the creation of a new illegal site to replace Nemesis.
The U.S. Treasury has cracked down on several similar operations, such as Genesis Market in April 2023 and Hydra in April 2022. However, darknet marketplaces continue to thrive. According to TRM Labs’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report, these platforms made over $1.7 billion in revenue in 2024, slightly more than the previous year.
The report also found that Russian-language initiatives dominated the industry, making up over 97% of drug sales using mainly Bitcoin and Tron’s TRX. This was an increase of more than 1% from 2023, showing their continued growth in the illegal online economy.
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