Dark Web Drug Dealers And Customers Arrested In German Bust

Recently, the German police reported that they arrested three darknet drug vendors and three of their customers. Law enforcement authorities seized large amounts of narcotics from the suspects, which they estimated to be worth more than one million euros.

On August 25, the German police reported that they conducted a successful raid, in which they arrested six suspects. According to the authorities, three of them were vendors who sold narcotics on the dark web, and the other three were their buyers. Investigators tracked down the defendants after extensive investigations in the case, in which they identified an international drug trafficking group that ran their illegal business online. Police officers issued arrest warrants against the six suspects in Mittelfranken, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Dortmund, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.

During the raids, law enforcement authorities seized a significant amount of drugs, including 39 kilograms of amphetamine, 30,000 ecstasy pills, 6.5 kilograms of MDMA and 1.3 kilograms of cocaine, the prosecutor’s office and the police reported in a joint interview on August 25 in Ansbach. According to prosecutor Michael Schrotberger, the value of the drugs are likely to be “in the millions”.

The investigation showed that the criminal group sold the drugs on “encrypted marketplaces” on the dark web. According to the police, after a successful transaction was made, the suspected packaged the drugs and shipped the parcels via the national postal service to their customers located in Germany and abroad.

In May, the customs officials seized a package containing narcotics on their way to the parcel’s recipient. According to the authorities, the parcel contained one and a half kilograms of amphetamine and 1,000 ecstasy pills.

“We left the dominions unclear where their goods have remained,” said Hermann Lennert, head of the police in Ansbach.

The investigators followed the trail of the package, which led them to the senders of the drug parcel. After the police identified two of the suspects, law enforcement authorities arrested two Dutch men, ages 20 and 34. The duo was just about to send over 200 packages and envelopes containing drugs via a parcel station.

Two days later, a 32-year-old was arrested in the Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen district. Police officers found a fake Austrian passport at the suspect.

“The 32-year-old was not only a customer but he also operated his own internet trade. He has produced, hoarded, packaged and shipped drugs,” Mr. Lennert said in a statement.

Mr. Lennert added that the quantity of the drugs is in a “new dimension”. However, the police chief was surprised how efficiently and anonymously the gang used Bitcoins to make profits while hiding their illegal activities. The police emphasized that their next step in the investigation will be to prosecute the customers of the criminal gang.