Avon and Somerset Police have recovered 20.21 Bitcoin and other assets valued at £1.03 million (more than $1.4 million) after tracing funds to darknet marketplaces active between 2016 and 2019. According to the police force's statement on August 27, the recovery includes Bitcoin, other digital assets, and money held in a bank account. The unnamed person at the center of the investigation had previously been convicted of money laundering and has since died, though officials did not disclose the conviction details or whether others were investigated.
Working with the force's cyber team, financial investigators used specialist tracing methods to follow the assets to several unnamed darknet marketplaces that operated from 2016 through 2019. As reported by Avon and Somerset Police, law enforcement agencies have since closed all of these platforms, which facilitated offenses ranging from drug distribution to human trafficking. The period includes major darknet enforcement operations, including the U.S. Department of Justice's closure of AlphaBay in July 2017 and Dream Market's shutdown in 2019. Detective Constable Anthony Davis noted that blockchain records provide a 'permanent record of transactions' that can become 'an invaluable source of evidence' for financial investigations.
A court approved the forfeiture of the assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act in earlier 2026, accepting that the holdings represented proceeds from unlawful conduct. The UK government introduced new crypto freezing powers through changes to the Proceeds of Crime Act in April 2024, allowing police to freeze cryptoassets when they have reasonable grounds to suspect illegal activity. This operation represents Avon and Somerset Police's largest cryptocurrency seizure since these powers became available. The recovered funds may support education, training, early intervention and crime-prevention work, with money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act directed to policing and community programs.
At Bitcoin's current price of approximately $77,570, the 20.21 BTC alone would be worth approximately $1.57 million, though the police force's valuation of £1.03 million may reflect different calculation dates or conversion rates. The force did not provide a specific valuation date or state whether any Bitcoin had been converted into pounds. The difference from the police valuation may come from the date on which officials calculated the total, as Bitcoin's market price has changed since the assets were forfeited. The recovery follows several American cases, including the U.S. Department of Justice's $400 million forfeiture involving assets seized from Helix operator Larry Dean Harmon in January.
