An illegal marketplace was started in the so-called cyberbunker in Traben-Trarbach on the Moselle in 2019.
Now the operators are on trial.
Koblenz / Oldenburg - After the closure of one of the world's largest illegal darknet marketplaces in January 2021, an Australian couple was charged.
It is said to have operated the "DarkMarket" platform with around half a million users and more than 2,400 sellers, the Rhineland-Palatinate state central office Cybercrime announced to the Koblenz Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday.
"On" DarkMarket "illegal drugs of all kinds, counterfeit money, stolen or counterfeit credit cards, malware and many other illegal goods were traded," it said. At least 320,000 transactions for a total of more than 140 million euros with first four and then five percent commission for the couple had been processed. Some of the payments were made with crypto currencies such as Bitcoin. The investigation was carried out by the Central Criminal Inspectorate Oldenburg.
The 34-year-old Australian is said to have been the administrator of the marketplace, who unlocked the sellers and monitored and paid several accomplices that were not yet identified. His 32-year-old wife is said to have been responsible for the design of "DarkMarket" and the settlement of disputes between sellers and customers. According to Attorney General Jürgen Brauer, both still reside in Australia, but were "on a long-term tour of Europe" with a school-age child.
According to Brauer, the illegal marketplace should have started in June 2019 in the so-called cyberbunker in Traben-Trarbach on the Moselle. In the old bunker, a gang is said to have operated an illegal data center for criminal business on the Darknet for years. In September 2019, hundreds of police officers excavated the underground cyberbunker. A lawsuit against eight alleged operators has been going on in Trier for a long time. In the case of "DarkMarket", investigators finally seized more than 20 servers in Moldova and Ukraine. According to Brauer, the data from "DarkMarket" should have been moved there after the cyberbunker was shut down. dpa