FRANKFURT: German police on Friday said they had made six arrests and searched more than 100 properties in major raids targeting the largest German-language criminal marketplace on the internet.
Duesseldorf police said the swoop took place in Germany and abroad on Thursday evening, adding that a special task force had for years collected evidence against the “Crimemarket” online trading platform.
A total of 102 premises were searched, around one third of them in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the police said.
Three people were arrested there, including a 23-year-old man considered the prime suspect.
A further three arrests were made elsewhere in Germany.
The operation targeted not only the operators of the site but also sellers and buyers.
Police seized evidence including mobile phones and data storage devices, one kilogram of marijuana, ecstasy tablets and almost 600,000 euros ($650,000) in cash.
They have also seized the website's domain name.
The “Crimemarket” website offered drugs and weapons for sale as well as criminal services and “detailed instructions for serious crimes”, according to the police.
The platform had over 180,000 registered users and was accessible via the so-called “darknet” as well as through the regular internet.
The secret “darknet” includes websites that can be accessed only with specific software or authorisations, ensuring anonymity for users.
The police described the website as “the largest German-language criminal trading platform on the internet”. -AFP
