German authorities shut down a relaunched version of the criminal marketplace Crimenetwork and arrested its suspected operator.
The domain seizure notice (Source: BKA)
A special unit of the Spanish National Police arrested the suspected 35-year-old German operator at his residence in Mallorca under a European Arrest Warrant.
The suspect is accused of operating criminal trading platforms on the internet under Section 127 of the German Criminal Code, as well as trafficking narcotics in quantities covered under Sections 29a and 30a of the Narcotics Act.
The operation involved the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT), and the Spanish National Police.
Authorities state the suspect allegedly created and operated a new technical infrastructure for Crimenetwork a few days after the previous version was shut down and its administrator was arrested in December 2024.
“Before being shut down by law enforcement at the end of 2024, “Crimenetwork” was for many years one of the central marketplaces of the German-speaking underground economy,“ the BKA said in a press release.
According to the agency, the relaunched platform offered stolen data, drugs, forged documents, and other illegal services, and had more than 22,000 users and over 100 vendors.
Users of Crimenetwork conducted transactions using cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero. Authorities estimate the platform generated more than €3.6 million in revenue through sales commissions and vendor fees, while the operation led to the preliminary seizure of about €194,000 in assets linked to the marketplace.
“The relaunch of Crimenetwork has failed, and another administrator will have to answer for his actions in a German court. We are also consistently enforcing applicable law in the Darknet together with our national and international partners. Cybercrime doesn’t pay,” said Carsten Meywirth, Director at the Federal Criminal Police Office and Head of the Cybercrime Department.
User and transaction data obtained during the operation are expected to support further investigations into the platform’s users and operators, who are believed to be mainly located in German-speaking countries.