Darknet Buyer Sentenced After Customs Spotted His Mail

In Lower Austria, a judge at the regional court St. Pölten sentenced a 29-year-old from Wölbling to serve one year in prison for ordering packages of amphetamine paste from the darknet. The sentence, as with several minor darknet drug sentences in countries outside the United States, was suspended for one year of government supervision.

The convicted darknet buyer explained that addiction and curiosity caused him to make the “rash decision” that was ordering from a darknet vendor. He said that he first ordered two grams of hashish in an effort to test the waters. He wanted to “see if it worked,” referring to the process of buying drugs online and receiving them at your doorstep only days later.

It worked so well that he decided to make another purchase, according to his official testimony. The second purchase consisted of 200 grams of amphetamine paste. This case is a perfect example of the stereotypical Austrian darknet drug buyer (that ends up in police custody). The stereotype, however, is misrepresented by the press. Amphetamine and other so-called “hard drugs” make better headlines than marijuana busts.

But in many of the cases, amphetamine paste is, more often than not, involved in one way or another. The “amphetamine past trend” appears in a significant number of Austrian darknet drug buyer cases. In June 2017, Austrian authorities arrested a 24-year-old buyer for ordering 500 grams of amphetamine and growing cannabis. Frankfurt Customs intercepted his package. In August 2017, Austrian Customs caught a 25-year-old ordering 100 grams of amphetamine paste. In September 2017, Customs in Vienna intercepted packages of amphetamine and heroin headed towards a 25-year-old in drug rehab.

In this case—the case of the 29-year-old darknet buyer—the hashish package arrived at the suspect’s house safely. The second amphetamine package never showed up. Since the package had never arrived, he ordered more amphetamine. “Just bad luck,” he told himself before ordering 100 grams of amphetamine.

The second package, too, never showed up. He thought the packages simply got lost or fell victim to his “bad luck.” The realization that the amphetamine had been seized by the authorities had not yet struck the 29-year-old. And it remained that way until police officers arrived at his home to arrest him. They charged him with importing illegal substances.

In the courtroom, the 29-year-old told the court that the experience had been a learning experience for him. He said it was too dangerous to repeat. “I will not do it anymore, it was a lesson, and it’s too dangerous,” the man said. The one year prison sentence is final.