Former Customer Of The Narcotics Vendor Shiny Flakes Ordered To Pay Fine

A suspect from Geretsried, Germany, who is believed to be a former customer of the darknet drug vendor Shiny Flakes, was sentenced to pay a fine for ordering narcotics from the dark side of the internet.

According to the German news outlet merkur.de, the criminal investigation department frequently succeeds in tracking down darknet vendors and buyers who hide behind the privacy of the Tor Network. The news magazine described dark web markets as online supermarkets, where customers can purchase all kinds of “unidentified” illegal products. The author remarked the lucrative nature of the drug business.

Court information stated that the 38-year-old accused Geretsried man ordered narcotics in June and October 2014. The suspect allegedly placed two orders for small amounts of amphetamine at the German darknet vendor Shiny Flakes. However, Shiny Flakes, AKA. Maximilian S., was arrested in February 2015. After his arrest, law enforcement authorities found a detailed list with the information on the narcotics vendor’s customers. The 38-year-old was on the list, police examined his details, identified him, and tracked the suspect down.

During the house search of the 38-year-old on April 29, last year, investigators found five LSD blotters as well as 119 tablets (police did not disclose the specific kind of drug) that were already listed among the prohibited narcotics in Germany. According to the police, the suspect acquired the pills in 2012.

“At that time they could still be ordered normally since they were not yet on the list,” the defendant protested. The suspect also said that the LSD was actually intended for a friend who wasn’t tech-savvy enough to order them from the dark web.

“That was a stupid thing,” admitted the 38-year-old. The accused did not deny the purchase of the ecstasy pills in 2014, which according to the suspect, he had never previously taken nor had any contact with any kinds of drugs. He ordered the narcotics out of curiosity, and when they arrived, he alerted his friends.

“I’m sorry, it was a stupid idea,” the defendant pointed out.

Judge Helmut Berger sentenced the Geretsried man at the District Court of Wolfratshausen to a monetary fine of 120 daily rates of 50 euros each (6,000 euros in total) for unauthorized acquisition and possession of narcotics.

Shiny Flakes, AKA. Maximilian S., was arrested by German law enforcement authorities in February 2015. Investigators executed 38 search warrants in the dark net vendor’s case in many locations across Germany, including Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. According to police information, law enforcement authorities managed to identify and track down Shiny Flakes, when two narcotics packages were not sufficiently stamped and returned to the wrong return addresses. Investigators located the young criminal’s home in Leipzig, where they arrested the suspect and raided his parent’s home. When officers searched the home of Maximilian S., they were amazed at the quantity of drugs they found. During the house search, law enforcement authorities seized about 320 kg of narcotics, including hash, LSD, cocaine, prescription pills, and MDMA. According to court documents and law enforcement authorities, Maximilian had sold the drugs on dark net marketplaces under the pseudo name ”Shiny Flakes”. Later, he allegedly stopped his dark web business and sold the illegal substances on the clearnet (the normal part of the internet directly accessible by traditional search engines and browsers). Police estimated that the suspect had sold drugs worth around four million euros. Additionally to the 320 kilograms of narcotics, law enforcement authorities seized an additional 40 kg of drugs. After investigators gathered enough evidence, it became clear for authorities that the young vendor had sold approximately 914 kg of drugs on the internet (both dark web and clearnet).

After Shiny Flakes was arrested in February 2015, he confessed how he made the money, how he ran his narcotics business, literally everything. According to him, he did not do this kind of business on the internet to make profits with the sales, but to “outbid his competitors”. In November 2015, Shiny Flakes was sentenced to six years and six months in prison (he was given a youth sentence since the defendant was under 21 when he committed the crimes) for illegally trafficking drugs in large quantities.