Stuttgart Man Jailed For Arms And Drugs Trafficking

Earlier in 2016, law enforcement authorities arrested a 28-year-old from Stuttgart, Germany for possessing large amounts of narcotics, counterfeit money, and weapons in his apartment. Now, the 7th Criminal Court sentenced him to five years in prison.

At the end of 2015, the suspect, who is a former hockey youth national player, ordered seven counterfeit 50 euro bills from a vendor shop on the dark net called “Crime Network”. However, the quality of the bills was so bad that he allegedly lit one of the notes.

“That gave a cool photo. I did not put a bill into circulation,” the accused said.

According to official court documents, different kinds of narcotics, fake certificates, registration documents, counterfeit money, stolen credit cards, and weapons were offered on the Crime Network. It is unclear whether German authorities are referring to “Crime Network” as a specific dark net vendor, or as a marketplace on the dark web.

The suspect “befriended” a vendor called “River 87” during his dark net operation, the defendant confessed. Also, court documents said the 28-year-old was suffering from panic attacks and agoraphobia (fear of big places, fear of leaving the house).

Due to his mental disorder, the suspect was “ineffective” at work. Because of this, the ex-hockey player decided to source his income from narcotics trafficking. According to official court documents, in the period of April – July 2016, he ordered six kilograms of marijuana and 120 grams of cocaine from the dark net. The drugs were delivered to his home address in Neugereut. The suspect and his accomplice spent around 45,000 euros for the narcotics. The 28-year-old also used a mailing station at a post office for delivery address, which he created with fake identification documents.

Later on, the suspect started trading with firearms too. During the suspect’s house search in July 2016, law enforcement authorities seized a Colt pistol, a Kalashnikov replica, and a blank gun. Police also confiscated more than a kilogram of cocaine, bags of ecstasy pills, and several kilograms of marijuana from the defendant’s apartment.

The panic attacks started after a failed business training, court documents state. According to the accused’s statement, he gave up drugs shortly after. However, he was already dependent on benzodiazepines, which he took for his fears. The suspect had to give up competitive hockey because of his life issues.

Despite his mental disorder, the suspect was responsible for his actions, chairman Rainer Gless said.

“The defendant has simply benefited too much in the time of the crime,” the chairman said.

However, the confession of the 28-year-old “softened” the given sentence. He also helped police arrest his accomplice. Nevertheless, the Chamber went beyond the request of the prosecutor.

“The crime scene is fairly professional,” Gless added.

The 7th Criminal Court sentenced the 28-year-old to five years in prison for arms and narcotics trafficking, for the violation of the War Weapons and Weapons Act, and for counterfeiting. Since of his alcohol and narcotics addiction, the defendant has to spend at least two years in a detoxification facility.