The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) have succeeded in striking a decisive blow against the darknet marketplace “Kingdom Market”. In an internationally coordinated operation, its server infrastructure, which was distributed across several countries, was seized and the illegal provider was taken offline.
The platform was mainly used to sell narcotics, malware and counterfeit documents. Most recently, more than 42,000 products were offered on the marketplace, with 3,600 of the offers originating from Germany. Several hundred seller accounts and tens of thousands of customer accounts were registered. Payment was mainly processed via cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero and Zcash, with the operators charging a 3 per cent commission.
The operators of “Kingdom Market” are suspected of operating a criminal trading platform on the internet and of illicit trafficking in narcotics. The BKA and ZIT worked closely with law enforcement authorities from the USA, Switzerland, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine during the operation. In addition to international coordination, innovative investigation strategies were also a guarantee for the renewed success against organised cybercrime.
