Tal Prihar, an administrator for the DeepDotWeb portal, has pleaded guilty to receiving gun and drug purchase kickbacks for connecting buyers and sellers of illegal goods on the dark web. Prihar is an Israeli citizen currently residing in Brazil. Prihar has admitted to operating the DeepDotWeb portal alongside Michael Phan. According to the US Department of Justice, the pair have been running the illegal goods site since 2013.

DDW was previously seized by law enforcement in 2019, which was a portal for news and events surrounding the dark web. However, Prihar received kickbacks for activities conducted outside of DDW’s scope, earning $8 million for providing direct links to marketplaces selling items such as firearms, heroin, fentanyl, malware, and stolen data record dumps. Prihar and Phan then laundered the money they earned. Prihar faces a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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