Alleged Hydra Administrator Dmitry Pavlov Reportedly Arrested In Russia – Bitcoin News

Moscow district court arrested Dmitry Pavlov who local media reported was the alleged administrator for recently shuttered darknet market Hydra. Russian authorities suspect he was involved in drug-related crimes that could land him up to 20 years imprisonment.

Moscow Court Remands Russian Administrator, Believed by Hydra

Meshchansky District Court of Moscow has taken into custody a certain Dmitry Olegovich Pavlov accused of production, sale, and distribution of drugs under Russia’s Criminal Code, the “Moscow” City News Agency reported this week, quoting the court’s press service.

Pavlov, who was detained on Monday, April 11th, shares similar names with a Russian citizen of 30-years and resident, charged for similar offenses related to his alleged role in the administration of Hydra Marketplace, the biggest darknet marketplaces.

Earlier this month, German law enforcement seized Hydra’s server infrastructure in the country and took down the Russian-language platform’s website. This operation was supported by several U.S. agencies.

Dmitry Pavlov, a U.S. Department of Justice defendant in conspiracy to distribute and to facilitate money laundering was arrested on April 5. A U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California Indictment states that the Russian was also charged with administering and hosting Hydra.

Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper, quoted Pavlov as saying that on April 6, he was not contacted by U.S authorities. He also stated that he only learned of the charges through the media. He also insisted his company had all the necessary licenses from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications watchdog, and was not administering any websites but only leasing servers as an intermediary.

The United States has been alleging the Russian Federation’s involvement with crypto-related criminal organizations, including darknet markets (DNMs) and ransomware actors. In September, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Russia-based crypto broker Suex, believed to have received more than $20 million from DNMs like Hydra.

The department also imposed sanctions on Hydra itself — which had been active since at least 2015 and had around 17 million customers before it was shut down — and on a cryptocurrency exchange called Garantex, suspected of processing over $2.6 million in transactions from the darknet market platform.

What do you think about other Russian arrests related to Hydra? Let us know in the comment section.

Lubomir Tatsev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.