German police shuts down 'world's largest' darknet marketplace with Australian operator

German police have taken down the ‘world’s largest’ darknet marketplace that its Australian operator used to sell drugs, steal credit card data and malware, prosecutors reportedly said on January 12. The law enforcement in the northern city in Oldenburg were able to ‘arrest the alleged operator’ according to the prosecutors of what is suspected to be ‘world’s largest illegal marketplace on the darknet, the DarkMarket’ over the weekend. 

In a statement, prosecutors also said that the investigators were able to close the darknet place down by turning the server off on January 11 before saying that it was an internal law enforcement operation. As per reports, nearly 320,000 transactions were carried out through the marketplace including over 4,650 bitcoin and 12,800 monero that are two most common types of cryptocurrencies. With the exchange rates that the authorities are aware of as of now, the turnover is valued at 140 million euros or $170 million.

Read - US: Hack Of Federal Agencies 'likely Russian In Origin'

Read - Cyberattacks In 2020: From Twitter Hack To US Cyberattacks, Major Crimes That Shook World

Alleged operator arrested near German border

The prosecutors also elaborated that the marketplace, which is now shut down, use to offer the sale of “all kinds of drugs” and “counterfeit money, stolen and fake credit card data, anonymous SIM cards” among other illegal things. The operator, according to reports, is believed to be a 34-year-old Australian passport holder and was arrested near the German-Danish border as dozens of servers it used in Moldova and Ukraine were also seized.

As per reports, the DarkMarket was also the second platform that was being operated under the same name since the original website was shut down in 2008by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. The police authorities reportedly gathered access to the users’ data, that further led to at least 60 arrests across the world. The prime suspect of the ‘world’s largest’ darknet market place, is reportedly now in pre-trial detention after he declined to speak before a judge. 

Law enforcement authorities of several nations including IRS tax authority were part in taking down DarkMarket including police from Australia, Britain, Denmark, Switzerland, Ukraine and Moldova. The European police, Europol reportedly played a ‘coordinating role’. 

Read - Senator: Treasury Dept. Email Accounts Compromised In Hack

Read - Putin Visits Foreign Intelligence Service HQ To 'congratulate' Amid US Cyberattack Row