Aussie arrested in Germany over $220m online drug site

Police stopped the 34-year-old as he was attempting to get away into Denmark after they smashed the criminal network connected to the website called DarkMarket

A district attorney in Germany informed News Corp that the Australian apprehended over the DarkMarket was called Julian K, from Queensland.

German authorities do not launch complete names in criminal examinations.

Australian cops assisted in the sting, which was stimulated from an idea off based upon an examination into another Darknet website called the Wall Street Market, which was running out of a previous Cold War NATO bunker.

At least 20 servers were taken in Ukraine and Moldova, which the Australian presumably utilized to host DarkMarket

The Australian was apprehended around the exact same time and appeared prior to a German judge however did not speak and remained in prison on remand on Monday night.

Jurgen Brauer, Attorney General at the Koblenz Public Prosecutors in north western Germany, stated Julian K was apprehended when he was attempting to get away at the border.

“Exactly, he was crossing into Denmark,” he stated.

He stated Julian K was not residing in Germany prior to his arrest.

“No, he’s Australian and he was here on a journey through Europe,” he stated.

“Whether he was on holiday here or was making connections, I can’t say, but at any rate he was travelling around Europe.”

Mr Brauer stated the Queenslander was examined following a development in a comparable case called Cyberbunker, where a criminal group ran a dark website out of a Cold War bunker.

“When we confiscated the whole server infrastructure these data too fell into our hands and that opened the door to these further investigations.”

Mr Brauer stated Julian K had aid from a minimum of 2 other administrators or supervisors of the DarkMarket

“You have to imagine something like Ebay, a platform where anyone can register and then peddle their wares. This was like that and the person we’ve charged is as far as we know the man who founded the whole thing and took significant responsibility for it,” he stated.

DarkMarket had over half a million users and practically 2,400 sellers, using counterfeit money and charge card, confidential SIM cards that can be utilized to devote criminal offenses, and “drugs of all kinds”.

German district attorneys stated that there were over 320,000 deals performed on the website, with a worth of $220 million, primarily in Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies.

The website was closed down on Monday night Australian time.

“The police and the public prosecutor’s office were supported by a large number of domestic and foreign authorities,” a declaration from the Koblenz district attorney’s workplace stated.

“In addition to the state criminal investigation offices from Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate, the ZKI Oldenburg and the LZC co-operated with the American authorities FBI, DEA and IRS and the Australian, British, Danish, Swiss, Ukrainian and Moldovan police.”

DarkMarket had actually been co-ordinated in Oldenberg, 2 hours west of Hamburg in north western Germany, a brief drive from the Danish border.

Police in Germany revealed a Cold War bunker in September, 2019, where a criminal network was hosting the Wall Street Market.

The bunker, which was established in the Cold War to be utilized by NATO forces, had 5000 sqm of area.

Criminals utilize encrypted passwords to utilize darknet websites, which permit them to conceal their activity from authorities.

Police think that such websites are likewise utilized by kid sex abusers.

The dark web, which was initially established for the United States military, has actually been overrun by criminal networks since they can hide their activities.

Germany has a legal loophole where individuals can not be prosecuted for hosting websites if they do not understand what activity their users were taking part in.

The case versus the Australian will centre on proof he understood he was assisting wrongdoers ply their trade.

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