Two Years in Prison Against a Dark Web Drugs Vendor
~2 min read | Published on 2023-03-22, tagged Darkweb-Vendor, Sentenced using 348 words.
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) asked a court to impose a prison sentence of two years against a man accused of distributing large quantities of drugs through the dark web and laundering the proceeds of the drug trafficking operation.
According to a press release by OM, from at least October 2019 to April 2022, the 26-year-old defendant distributed a wide variety of drugs via dark web marketplaces including on the now-defunct DarkMarket under the vendor name "DutchAngels."
Investigations that resulted in the defendant's arrest began after the Post Intervention Team received information that the DutchAngels vendor account on DarkMarket had been mailing a variety of drugs globally from the Netherlands.
Data acquired by Europol following the takedown of DarkMarket led to the discovery of information on the DutchAngels account. The investigators gained access to the vendor's transaction history and communications that revealed that the vendor had sold drugs to buyers from Germany, Italy, and Austria. The investigators also acquired GPS data from photos used by the vendor to advertise the drugs he offered.
The information acquired from Europol led the Dutch investigators to the defendant's residence resulting in his arrest in April 2022. A search of the defendant's residence led to the seizure of several storage devices. Information acquired from the devices revealed that the defendant was involved in the international distribution of MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ketamine via post. The investigators also recovered records of mailing information for drug packages shipped to international addresses.
The defendant claimed he was not the vendor and that the evidence recovered from his home may have been left by visitors. He, however, did not provide evidence to support his claims.
Even though law enforcement did not intercept any of drug packages allegedly mailed the by the defendant, the prosecution believes the postal records prove that the defendant distributed the drugs. The defendant also spent the money he received after cashing out the bitcoin acquired from the drug sales.
In addition to the two years in prison, the prosecution asked the court to order the defendant to pay a fine of 40,000 euros.
According to a press release by OM, from at least October 2019 to April 2022, the 26-year-old defendant distributed a wide variety of drugs via dark web marketplaces including on the now-defunct DarkMarket under the vendor name "DutchAngels."
Investigations that resulted in the defendant's arrest began after the Post Intervention Team received information that the DutchAngels vendor account on DarkMarket had been mailing a variety of drugs globally from the Netherlands.
Data acquired by Europol following the takedown of DarkMarket led to the discovery of information on the DutchAngels account. The investigators gained access to the vendor's transaction history and communications that revealed that the vendor had sold drugs to buyers from Germany, Italy, and Austria. The investigators also acquired GPS data from photos used by the vendor to advertise the drugs he offered.
The information acquired from Europol led the Dutch investigators to the defendant's residence resulting in his arrest in April 2022. A search of the defendant's residence led to the seizure of several storage devices. Information acquired from the devices revealed that the defendant was involved in the international distribution of MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ketamine via post. The investigators also recovered records of mailing information for drug packages shipped to international addresses.
The defendant claimed he was not the vendor and that the evidence recovered from his home may have been left by visitors. He, however, did not provide evidence to support his claims.
Even though law enforcement did not intercept any of drug packages allegedly mailed the by the defendant, the prosecution believes the postal records prove that the defendant distributed the drugs. The defendant also spent the money he received after cashing out the bitcoin acquired from the drug sales.
In addition to the two years in prison, the prosecution asked the court to order the defendant to pay a fine of 40,000 euros.
