Monday, February 10, 2025
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The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on British and Dutch nationals for their involvement in the sale of drugs, including fentanyl, using several websites that have now been seized by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Elliptic has identified over $32 million in cryptoassets receiving wallet addresses associated with these vendors, including those listed by OFAC.

This action – undertaken in collaboration between British and Dutch law enforcement authorities – marks the first use of US Executive Order 14059 (signed in December 2021), which relates to the sanctioning of foreign persons involved in the global drug trade. It comes amid a growing opioid crisis across the U.S. — where opioid-related deaths are up 15.4 percent from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021 — according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Drug trafficking and money laundering chains have been broken

Among the sanctions are two Dutch citizens – Alex Adrianus Martinus Peijnenburg and Martinus Pterus Henri De Koning, and a citizen of Great Britain – Matthew Simon Grimm – who lives in the Netherlands.

Peijnenburg and De Koning were linked to the online narcotics seller Research Group Nederland, which now operates under the name “Green District BV”. After the couple was arrested in 2018, they continued to operate a website called The Real Arc.

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Former websites of Research Group Nederland and The Real Arc.

Cryptocurrency addresses on OFAC’s list associated with The Real Arc received over $25.3 million in cryptocurrency, predominantly Bitcoin. Elliptic also identified several crypto addresses linked to Research Group Nederland – which received over $1 million in bitcoins between November 2016 and September 2017.

Meanwhile, Matthew Simon Grimm is associated with online retailer Smokey’s Chem Site, as well as Natural Gifts BV and Erjm Limited. Smokey’s Chem Site has listed a number of banned substances for sale, which are advertised as originating from a laboratory in the Netherlands. Discounts are provided for payments in cryptocurrencies – with over $5.6 million in cryptocurrencies identified in OFAC-listed wallets.

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Smokey’s Chem Site before and after seizure and sanctioning.

A number of companies also involved in the sanctions update were used as part of a network to launder sales revenue originating from these sites. The Real Arc URL now displays a US Drug Enforcement Agency seizure notice.

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Elliptic has taken immediate action to ensure that sanctioned addresses are flagged and available for review within our tools. Use of Virtual Property Services Elliptic’s blockchain analytics solutions will now be able to verify OFAC-listed wallets to ensure they are not processing funds originating from them.

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