Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces Crackdown on Dark Web Marketplace Implicated in Portland Overdose Death

Sessions described circumstances that matched Aisha Zughbieh-Collins' case, without naming her.

Aisha Zughbieh-Collins (Courtesy of Jessica Collins)

When 18-year-old Aisha Zughbieh-Collins bought drugs that killed her, she turned to the website AlphaBay.

Her fatal overdose on synthetic opioids, and the sleuthing that led detectives to the man who allegedly sold her the drugs, was the subject of a WW cover story earlier this month.

Today in a speech, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that law enforcement agencies from across the globe earlier this month shut down AlphaBay, the largest marketplace for illicit substance and services on the dark web.

In the speech, Sessions described circumstances that matched Zughbieh-Collins' case, without naming her.

"One victim was just 18 years old when, in February, she overdosed on a powerful synthetic opioid, which she had bought on AlphaBay," Sessions said. "The drug was shipped right to her house through the mail."

Related: An 18-year-old girl died from a synthetic opioid she bought online. Here's how Portland police cracked the case.

Authorities from Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany participated in the raid, Sessions said.

AlphaBay was 10 times of the size of Silk Road, which the FBI shut down in 2013.

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