A major police operation targeting a suspected darknet drug trafficking organization has resulted in four arrests across Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. Specialist police and customs forces executed the arrest warrants on Tuesday evening, following months of investigation.
The operation, coordinated by the Koblenz Public Prosecutor’s Office, involved searches of 14 residences and business premises in Ludwigshafen, Pforzheim, the Enz district, Karlsruhe and Mannheim. During the raids, authorities seized approximately two kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of amphetamine, over 500 ecstasy tablets, 4.5 kilograms of cannabis and more than 7,000 prescription medications.
Approximately €100,000 in cash was also confiscated, along with illegal online sales platforms and servers located in the United Kingdom and Finland. A cannabis plantation containing 64 plants was discovered in the Vaihingen district.
Investigations against the group, suspected of jointly engaging in the unauthorized trade of narcotics and prescription drugs, commenced in October 2023. The four individuals arrested were brought before a judge in Koblenz and declined to make any statements.
Initial investigations suggest the organization, allegedly led by two principal suspects aged 28 and 38 from Pforzheim and Ludwigshafen, conducted a thriving illicit trade in amphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs both on the public and the so-called darknet – the encrypted portion of the internet. Authorities believe the suspects operated in a compartmentalized and highly conspiratorial manner, producing part of their illegal supply within a specially constructed illegal cannabis plantation. The Customs Investigation Office in Frankfurt am Main and the State Criminal Police Office of Rhineland-Palatinate are continuing the investigation.