A coordinated operation of law enforcement agencies in 7 countries raided operators of darknets trading in illegal products and services.
A joint effort of law enforcement agencies in seven European countries (Germany, Bosnia, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Russia) allowed authorities to identify and arrest operators of darknet online platforms trading in illegal products and services, including drugs, fake IDs, weapons, and counterfeit money. According to the German authorities, nine suspects have been arrested by the police that targeted 69 homes and businesses in the seven countries.
The list of arrested suspects includes:
- A 27-year-old Bosnian national which is considered the technical administrator of three darknets.
- A 22-year-old German national who operated ran a trading platform specialized in the sale of illegal drugs.
- Two Syrian brothers aged 19 and 28 in possess of 36 kilogrammesof amphetamine, 1.5 kg of cocaine, 2 kg of hashish and 2.3 kg of ecstasy pills.
- Two German men aged 29 and 21, one of them is accused of the management of two illegal networks and an illegal streaming platform for pirated movies and sports shows.
The law enforcement seized 150,000 euros in cash and assets, servers in France, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Russia as well as several PCs and storage media, a firearm, and illegal drugs.
The German security services defined the operation as a “a major blow against the German-speaking underground economy and further proof that there is no complete anonymity on the Internet, including in the so-called darknet”.
German federal police and Frankfurt prosecutors revealed that the suspects exploited darknets to sell illegal drugs (amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin) and counterfeit documents from German, the Netherlands and Italy.
The criminal organization was also offering for sale stolen credit card data, online banking and webservice login credentials, and was also able to provide illegal services such as botnet for rent and hacking services.
This is another success of a shared operation of law enforcement.
(Security Affairs – darknets, police)
