Avon and Somerset Police seize £1.4M in cryptocurrency linked to darknet markets

Avon and Somerset Police have announced their largest cryptocurrency seizure since new legal powers were introduced, recovering assets worth more than £1.4 million linked to darknet market activity from several years ago. The force said its Financial Investigation Unit, working with its Cyber Team, forfeited 20.21 Bitcoin, other digital assets, and bank funds with a combined value of £1,032,487.86. The assets were traced to marketplaces that operated between 2016 and 2019 and have since been shut down by law enforcement. The investigation centered on an individual who had previously been convicted of money laundering and has since died. Police did not disclose the timing of that conviction or the specific offenses. Using specialist tracing techniques, investigators followed the cryptocurrency through public blockchain records to connect it with the now-defunct darknet platforms. Those sites were known to facilitate crimes ranging from drug supply to human trafficking. A court approved the forfeiture earlier in 2026 after accepting that the holdings represented the proceeds of unlawful conduct.