GERMANY – German prosecutors on Tuesday said they had broken up an illegal online trading platform for drugs, stolen data and other illicit goods called “Crimenetwork”, and arrested one of its administrators. They said the platform, operating since 2012, was “considered the biggest German-language online marketplace for the underground economy”. With more than 100 vendors and 100,000 customers, it allegedly served as a marketplace for illegal goods and services including counterfeit documents. Prosecutors said in a statement that its servers had been shut down and that “alongside many other pieces of evidence and expensive vehicles, around a million euros’ worth of cryptocurrency was also seized”.

An unidentified 29-year-old man suspected of acting as one of the administrators of the site, was arrested on Monday and faces several charges including illegal trading in narcotics. The transactions were carried out in the Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies, with the site charging fees and commissions of one to five percent of the sales value.

Prosecutors estimate that between 2018 and 2024 the platform enabled transactions in these currencies to the tune of 93 million euros ($98 million) using current exchange rates. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser hailed the “major investigative success in the fight against cybercrime” and thanked Dutch law enforcement for their “close cooperation”. “Cocaine and ecstasy were traded on this platform, as were stolen accounts and malware,” she said. “This investigative success sends a clear message: criminals cannot feel safe on the Internet either.” (Jamaicaobserver)