Operation Bayonet was an international law-enforcement effort that led to the seizure of AlphaBay in July 2017 and the arrest of its administrator, Alexandre Cazes, in Thailand. The timeline involved several agencies and more than one online marketplace; the takedown was not the result of a single clue.
How the investigation unfolded
AlphaBay operated on the Tor network and grew after the earlier Silk Road market was shut down. The FBI’s account says AlphaBay went online in December 2014 and describes an investigation combining traditional investigative work, technical tools and cooperation across borders.
A U.S. forfeiture complaint describes investigators finding a personal email address in a welcome-message header and tracing financial activity connected with the site. It also recounts events during a search in Bangkok on 5 July 2017. Those details are statements in a government court filing and should be attributed to that filing rather than presented as a complete explanation of the case.
Key dates
- December 2014: The FBI says AlphaBay went online.
- June 2017: Dutch authorities took control of the Hansa market as part of related international work.
- 4 July 2017: U.S. authorities announced the seizure of AlphaBay’s infrastructure.
- 5 July 2017: Thai authorities arrested Cazes in Bangkok on behalf of the United States.
- 20 July 2017: The U.S. Department of Justice and FBI publicly announced the operation.
What the records do—and do not—show
The FBI describes a coordinated investigation involving agencies in several countries and Europol. That account supports a broader picture of evidence sharing and joint work. It does not establish that one security mistake alone caused the takedown.
Keep the source and status of each statement clear. A complaint records allegations made by the government; a press release summarizes an agency’s account. Neither should be rewritten as a court judgment unless a court record establishes that outcome.
Primary sources
- FBI: AlphaBay Takedown
- U.S. Department of Justice: AlphaBay shut down
- U.S. Department of Justice: forfeiture complaint
- U.S. Department of Justice: AlphaBay seizure notice
For background on an earlier darknet-market investigation, see the Silk Road case.