Netherlands: Six Darknet Marketplace Vendors Arrested

The Netherlands is one of the superpowers in drug dealings in Europe, and a report released last year confirmed that the country is counted among the leading producers of drugs through the Darknet marketplace.

As part of the measures to reduce the use of Darknet drug trade in the Netherlands, authorities took down some shops set up on the Darknet marketplace for selling drugs. The operation yielded results as six Drug vendors were arrested between the months of May and June.

On a Facebook post, the Marechaussee confirmed that the arrested suspects were in charge of stores set up on the Darknet for selling out drugs. These vendors take responsibilities of making sure ordered drugs from the Darknet arrive to their buyers. According to the investigation, the drugs are normally packaged and sent to buyers through the various postal carriers.

The Netherlands has a leading position in the illegal drug market in Europe. In a Dutch report, over 50 Darknets and vendor shops are owned by Dutch citizens. The anonymous market online has been much appreciated by most of the drug users in Europe. The research which led to the arrest was conducted after the customs officers identified a box which contained drugs from different companies.

According to the police that includes part of the Dutch military, Koninklijke Marechaussee, the suspects were natives of three cities namely Haarlem, Lelystad and Hilversum, and between the ages of 21 and 55 years. A thorough warranted search by the police in 11 homes and commercial properties led to many seized drugs. According to a source, drugs of about 70kg were seized; money counting machines, 35,000 Euros cash as well as firearms.

It took much time before some of the drugs were discovered, as some were found in a puzzle box, hidden in a rented shed. Some of the drugs discovered were cocaine, amphetamine, LSD, and ecstasy.

The six arrested Darknet vendors have been remanded into police custody.

A research states that the Dutch Darknet vendor is the fifth largest in Europe whiles US; UK, Australia and Germany hold the leading position.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the Netherlands has majored in the ecstasy and the herbal cannabis production.

Drugs that emanate from the Darknet are increasing at an alarming rate, and it looks like all the European countries have a common enemy to fight.

There have been reports that Drug vendors in the Netherlands have established several drug labs in the country. Some few years back, authorities busted some few drug labs in Limburg, and drug waste was discovered as well.

Dutch illegal drug vendors producing drugs and dispatching them to other countries through the Darknet marketplace has called an interest from the government of different countries to contribute in eliminating drug production from the Dutch.

A senior Austrian official has recently accused the Dutch authorities of doing little to shut down narcotic labs in the country.

An Austria’s chief drug crime official, Dieter Csefan, believes that a huge drug lab in the Netherlands is located underground: “These (Dutch) laboratories are underground. Huge ship containers are being buried five to six meters in the ground in the southern Netherlands.”

Darknet growth after the closure of the infamous Silk Road has been an unprecedented one. It is reported that the attention the Darknet market has to gain was as a result of the preference given by the media, creating a consciousness of its existence after the arrest of the old Silk Road market owner, Ross Ulbricht.

The recent operation of the police which handed six Darknet vendors located in Dutch in prison shows that the authorities are actively searching through the Darknet market for illegal traders.

As part of an operation which existed last year, the Dutch authorities warned many as they took over the Darknet, and changed its main page as part of their investigation.

The Dutch Public Prosecution service explained their method on Darknet last year, which seems to be working this year: “Via the Hidden Service, an English Darknet website, the National Prosecution Service and the police show the darknet community that they act actively on the Darknet in the first place.”

The Public Prosecution Service continued: “Secondly, the team communicates about the detection and prosecution of many large vendors on the underground marketplaces. Thirdly, the Hidden Service points out that buyers of illegal goods aren’t as anonymous on the darknet as the might think.”

It is expected that more vendors will be arrested by the Dutch authorities following the recent intensive investigation on the Darknet marketplaces.