Swedish Man Produced GHB And Sold It On The Dark Web

A man in his 40s, from Jönköping, Sweden, stood trial before the Jönköping District Court for drug trafficking. Law enforcement authorities arrested the alleged dark net vendor at the end of last year. Now, he is being prosecuted for serious crimes.

According to the indictment, the prosecutor submitted to the Jönköping District Court on March 2, the man was arrested just before Christmas, last year. Police detained the suspect when they were performing a “house check” on the alleged dark net vendor, according to court information. It is unclear whether house check means a random inspection on a specific person or a home search with a warrant in the current context.

When law enforcement authorities searched the home of the suspect, they found various kinds of narcotics and doping agents. Investigators seized 80 tablets of methandienone, 27 tablets of Mesterolone, 193 methyltestosterone tablets, 50 clomiphene tablets, a vial of HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin), and a vial of testosterone enanthate. Clomiphene is a medication used to treat infertility in women who do not ovulate, while HCG is a hormone produced by the placenta after implantation. The other substances are steroids, commonly used by bodybuilders, and by athletes who are trying to gain advantage by cheating their way through competitions.

According to official court documents, the suspect ordered (most possibly from a vendor on the dark web) 30 liters of GBL between September 30, 2015, and December 20, 2016. The Jönköping man allegedly used GBL, or gamma-Butyrolactone, to produce GHB, which he sold to customers on dark net marketplaces. He produced at least 60 liters of GHB, and distributed 50 liters of the substance to dark web buyers, police information stated. Additionally, investigators claimed that the suspect sold 19.4 grams of marijuana, 110 tablets Lyrica (Pregabalin), and four grams of MDMA, and 12 deciliters of GBL when he was active on the dark web. Police estimate the total sales value of the narcotics the man both distributed and kept at his home to be at least 260,000 SEK (about 29,000 USD).

The prosecutor believes that the suspect’s crimes should be considered as aggravated due to their nature. The prosecution argued that the judge should recognize the fact that the man was dealing with large amounts of narcotics, and the whole operation was carried out professionally, and systematically using encrypted services and communications. The suspect was motivated by the sole purpose of gaining profits through dark web sales. According to the prosecution, the defendant’s illicit activities put young adults at great risk, since the narcotics he sold could get the buyers addicted to a substance, or, if already addicted, could maintain such drug abuses.

The suspect allegedly produced amphetamines and cultivated cannabis, and personally used marijuana and methandienone, the indictment said.

The defendant was charged with serious drug offenses, two counts of drug offenses of normal degree, and two counts of minor narcotic offenses and doping offenses. The suspect admitted some crimes he committed.

Sweden was a quite silent country regarding dark net cases in the past. However, during a massive international police action, Operation Hyperion or Operation Incognito (the Scandinavian side of the investigations), Swedish law enforcement authorities identified about 226 persons in the country, who were believed to be dark net criminals. In December, according to police information, investigators already detained 12 of the suspects.

“The results show that drug trafficking has moved into the homes and that you can order drugs in the mail while sitting with your kids, or in the bedroom. We have, in these cases, managed to break the anonymity of the Darknet,” said Linda Staaf, head of the intelligence unit at the National Police Operations Department in a press release.

Law enforcement authorities in the country warned dark net buyers that police will be “more suspicious” and there is an expectation of “more efforts like this in the future”. Since there have been a large number of people identified in Sweden, there is a high probability that in the Jönköping case, the alleged dark net vendor was tracked down by authorities as part of Operation Hyperion.