Illegal narcotics package sent to Santa Clara business leads police to ‘Dark Web,’ arrests nationwide

(KRON) — A suspicious package with illegal narcotics sent to a Santa Clara business in January 2025 led to multiple search warrants and arrests nationwide, said the Santa Clara Police Department Wednesday. SCPD said several of the suspects are thought to have ties to a huge drug trafficking operation on the “Dark Web.”

SCPD confirmed that the targeted business was not involved in illegal narcotics or suspected of any criminal activity.

“Over the following months, detectives developed several leads which, by July, identified multiple suspects believed to be operating a large-scale Dark Web drug trafficking organization,” said Santa Clara police. “Through extensive collaboration with partner agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), SCPD’s detective helped coordinate a nationwide effort targeting the suspects.”

Police said the wide-scale arrests and search warrants occurred during the last week of October. Police confirmed that officers seized the following below after taking down a main narcotics stash house and two other locations in San Jose:

• Four handguns
• Cryptocurrency and U.S. currency
• Over 500,000 counterfeit Adderall pills
• Over 100,000 counterfeit Xanax pills (suspected to contain Fentanyl)
• Approximately 12 kilograms of MDMA pills and “moon rock” (Ecstasy)
• 1.6 kilograms of cocaine
• 1.4 kilograms of crystal Ketamine

Police have not yet identified any of the suspects. The total value of the discovered cryptocurrency and U.S. currency was not disclosed.

“This investigation demonstrates the success of interagency collaboration and highlights the commitment of local and federal law enforcement partners to combat the distribution of dangerous narcotics in our communities,” said police in a social media post.