A German man was sentenced to one year of probation for using darkweb counterfeit euros in a bar — he also paid a fine of €500

February 20, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

A 27-year-old man was convicted on Monday, 18th of February 2019, for using counterfeit money at a snack bar in Michelau. He was sentenced to one year of probation by the district court of Lichtenfels after being accused of paying with counterfeit in two instances.

Originally from Dörfles-Esbach, the culprit tried to exchange his fake €50 banknotes at a snack bar. After successfully deceiving the cashier the first time, in September of 2017, he got caught the second time he tried to fool the same establishment a month after, in October 2017. The business owner was swiftly advised by his bank that his deposits contained fake money. Both the police and bar staff was informed and remained vigilant. Surely enough, the fraudster attempted the scam again. However, while he was waiting for his exchange, the cashier retreated, took a photo of the suspect, and called the police. The suspect fled the scene after becoming suspicious.

Both the photo and two false €50 bills landed in the search system of the Coburger Kriminaldauerdienst service. He was deemed a wanted man for fiscal fraud. After a while, the brother of the defendant’s current fiancé started the police academy and recognized the man in a photo.

A house raid followed. Among other things, his laptop was confiscated. The accused objected to the seizure, arguing that the €600-laptop wasn’t even paid off. Nevertheless, Judge Barausch and prosecutor Philip Pasch remained tough on the issue:

“With the laptop, the counterfeit money was ordered from the darknet, so it is a (crime) tool that must be secured,” said Barausch. The accused finally agreed.

He paid €30-worth of bitcoin for a few fake €50 notes. However, the bills looked phony. As the culprit would declare himself in front of the judge, the whole operation was “naive.” The young man described how he had an awful feeling when opening the darkweb envelope. He took out the unconvincing forged bills but decided to use them, anyhow.

The trial ended with a sentence of one year of probation. Three months less than what the prosecution had asked. Furthermore, the defendant must pay €500 euros to a non-profit organization. The court considered it an isolated incident and took into consideration the fact that the man was soon to get married to his fiancé. Even if he was three years older than the minimum age to qualify for penal juvenility, the court took into consideration his “good social forecast” and favored a suspended sentence.

District Court of Coburg, Germany

SOURCE: https://www.np-coburg.de/region/coburg/Falsche-Fuenfziger-frei-Haus;art83420,6578937

Twelve suspects were arrested in Germany by a German-Dutch Joint Task Force for being part of a darkweb drug-smuggling organization

February 2, 2019February 2, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

Ten private residences and premises were raided in Gronau, Germany on Friday 1st of February 2019 as apart of a German-Dutch operation. The joint task force executed ten arrest warrants and successfully apprehended twelve suspects, four under European Arrest Warrants.

Law enforcement has been tracking the group since 2018. They’d send hard drugs from the Netherlands to Germany through the post office. A total of 13 members are accused in this case, twelve of them arrested on Friday.

“According to the investigation so far, three main suspects arrested today are said to have organized the order and shipping. The accused are a 31-year-old Afghan citizen living in Enschede, his 27-year-old brother resident in Gronau, and a 33-year-old Dutchman from Enschede,” according to a press release from the Dutch Customs.

The starting point of the investigation was the case-related information obtained by the Nordhorn Customs. The illegal mailing of drugs from the deep web has been a well-known practice on the Dutch border for years.

The close cooperation between the two countries has led to the alleged perpetrator group. Already during the covert phase of the very intensive investigations, drug shipments in letters and parcels for recipients worldwide were captured. Including nearly 25 kilograms of amphetamine, 1.6 kilograms of pure MDMA, 1.1 kilograms of ecstasy tablets, 170 grams of cocaine, and 145 grams of heroin with a total street sale value of more than €400,000. To capture the group, a joint investigation team between Dutch and German authorities was founded.

“According to the findings so far, the authorities assume that the drugs ordered in the Darknet were ordered online, paid in cryptocurrency and packaged by other suspects, either in the Netherlands or in Germany, at the command of the main defendants. The alleged gang supposedly used apartments rented for this purpose in its storage and packaging activities in the Twente region of the Netherlands and the Borken district in Germany,” Customs officials declared.

The modus operandi of the group consisted of daily journies across the German border from the Netherlands and then expedited nationally or internationally. Ready-packed and frank stamped, the parcels were sent from postal offices alongside the German border from Bad Bentheim to the northern Ruhr area.

More interesting, is the transport vehicle seized by the task force. The car was designed to fill every spare space with drugs. Furthermore, the searches on Friday also found numerous written documents, computers, and mobile phones.

The operation has involved German and Dutch prosecutors, German customs investigators, FIOD (Dutch Investigative Service), EUROJUST, and EUROPOL. The accusation of gang-related international drug trafficking is very severe in both countries. However, Germany has slightly more lax laws than the Netherlands. If found guilty, they face up to ten years in prison.

Gronau Courthouse

Gronau, Germany

SOURCE: http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/press/PressReleases/Pages/2019/2019-02-01b.aspx

https://www.gn-online.de/westfalen/schlag-gegen-drogenschmuggler-aus-dem-darknet-279415.html

https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/westfalen-lippe/gronau-schlag-darknet-dealer-100.html

https://www.tubantia.nl/almelo/zeven-aanhoudingen-bij-invallen-fiod-in-twente~a26849e9/

RESOURCE: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/topics/law/penalties-at-a-glance

A 26-year-old German man was sentenced to four years and ten months for selling darkweb cocaine and amphetamine on the streets of Überlingen and Singen

January 31, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

The 26-year-old man from Lake Constance district supplied at least two customers from the Überlingen and the Singen with large quantities of darknet amphetamine and cocaine. He ordered the drugs on the deep web and sold them for profits to sustain his lifestyle and own addiction. He has been ordered to concede the sum of €35,150 resulted from drug sales and attend rehabilitation as his level of addiction was described by the prosecutors as “heavily dependent.” He has already spent five months in custody before hearing the final sentence.

During his first period of withdrawal, he felt very bad: “I thought I was dying,” he said.

The accused confessed everything in the District Court of Konstanz (photo). He used to both re-send the ordered packages and deliver in-person for profits. In one instance, the man sold drugs to a client in a supermarket car park in Aach. Other times he’d mail them through the post office. Buying mainly from the now-defunct AlphaBay darknet platform.

Thanks to intelligence from their colleagues in Ulm and Dortmund, The Kriminalpolizeidirektion of Friedrichshafen investigated and arrested the dealer in the summer of 2018. Investigators found 22 en-gross darknet drug orders to his name of which two were intended for personal consumption.

The defendant, visibly emotional, confessed in court how it all started years ago when he first drank alcohol on the high-school bus during a trip. He even tried marijuana. However, since then, nothing was off-limits, not even pain-killers. Eventually getting extremely addicted to cocaine.

Unlike other recent and similar cases reported on our website, the man did not qualify for the 24-year-old limit Criminal Juvenile Act and received the full sentence provided by the German Penal Code. Drug trafficking carries up to five years’ imprisonment. However, he received no aggravating accusations due to his confession.

SOURCE: https://www.schwaebische.de/landkreis/bodenseekreis/markdorf_artikel,-kokain-aus-darknet-bestellt-und-verkauft-_arid,11000900.html

RESOURCE: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/countries/drug-reports/2018/germany/drug-laws-and-drug-law-offences_en

A 22-year-old German got a two-year suspended sentence, fines, and over 150 hours of community work for using darkweb counterfeit money and committing “carding” fiscal fraud — police had to pick him up from home on trial day because he slept in

January 30, 2019January 30, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

Tuesday 29th of January 2018, the Böblinger District Court sentenced Yusuf D., a 22-year-old German man to two years of suspension, fines, and over 150 hours of community work for 163 accusations of computer fraud including credit card fraud, unauthorized data-gathering, and counterfeit trafficking.

The sentencing started without the defendant. In an almost tragicomic scene, everybody was present except the offender. While waiting, Judge Ralf Rose directed some words of wisdom towards the silent and attending courtroom:

“Those who are late, are punished by life.” Not an ideal way to set things up.

Finally, not before waiting 40 minutes, the defendant enters the courtroom with two policemen by his side and with a sleepy face. He’s sorry but he didn’t recall having sentencing so early in the day.

District Court Böblingen

He was arrested in March 2018 after a supermarket cashier alerted the police of an unsuccessful attempt by a young man to buy groceries with a €50 bill. The police then interviewed the cashier who got a firm look at Yusuf before escaping the store premises. Law enforcement proceeded to track down the culprit and found his darknet crime pseudonym: “Azerbaijan61.” They raided his house, where he lived with his father in the east of Stuttgart, and seized high-value goods.

Since finishing high-school in 2013, the young Böblinger doesn’t really know what to do with himself. He wanted to become a train driver or soccer player, but choose darkweb scamming as his new career, with little success. In 2015, under the nickname Azerbaijan61, he ordered for the first time fake €20 banknotes. So-called “flowers” in darknet slang. In the following years, he dedicated himself to “carding,” or credit card fraud.

Using counterfeit or stolen account information, the defendant illegally made online orders in the four-digit range. The young man bought clothes and electrical appliances for a fraction of the total estimated value of 4800 euros. Notebooks with a value of €1600 cost him only €300. Only in rare cases did the card’s security system blocked the illegal transfers and protected its users.

“I was surprised that things went so smoothly,” says the young trickster.

When asked how did the goods found their way to him anonymously, he replied that by using other providers, the defendant acquired two mailboxes to which he could conveniently send the stolen goods.

The culprit operated mainly on a darkweb Netherland-based site called “Crimenetwork.biz” where people would trade illegally-obtained goods for stolen credentials, cryptocurrency, card information, or other products. His second preferred platform was “Fraudsters,” where he’d engage in various credit card scams and phishing. The estimated profits from 2015 and 2017 are in the tens of thousands of euros. More so, the accused had even purchased gold bars worth around €22,000.

On top of the fiscal fraud accusations, Yusuf D. was also accused of identity theft. He wanted to get an Italian passport for 200 euros. With his Italian identity and his residence in Herrenberg, the adolescent was thus also liable for ID falsification.

The “not so terribly professional” scammer, as described by the prosecution, received a suspended sentence of two years, over 150 hours of community work, fines, and propriety seizing. Both the prosecution and judge made it clear that the defendant got lucky being sentenced as a juvenile. Since the criminal acts were rather minor and being under 24 years of age, Yusuf D. qualified under the German Juvenile Justice Act.

An interesting statue vis-a-vis Böblingen District Court entrance Böblingen District Court, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

SOURCE: https://www.krzbb.de/krz_154_111655381-13-_Amtsgericht-verurteilt-22-jhrigen-Bblinger-wegen-Geldwsche-und-Datenhehlerei.html

https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.landgericht-stuttgart-mehrere-zehntausend-euro-schaden-betrueger-kommt-mit-blauem-auge-davon.0c523b3f-0a8f-4572-9869-59053dd804e3.html

RESOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carding_(fraud)

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datenhehlerei

A German 21-year-old from Amberg got six months of prison suspended over three years probation for consuming and selling darkweb ecstasy and methamphetamine — he was judged as a juvenile and fined for €950

January 29, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

The 21-year-old man from Amberg, Germany has been accused of 50 counts of selling and consuming darkweb methamphetamine and ecstasy between April 2016 and November 2017. He was sentenced before Judge Peter Jung to six months suspension over three years of post-release probation, and a fine of €950.

Police found his cell number in the phone of one of his clients and decided to raid the young man. However, upon inspection law enforcement did not find drugs. He declared:

“I have not used any crystal meth,” the young man said he has been clean since March 2018.

Despite police not having found drugs in his residence, the culprit decided to surrender from the get-go. Shortly after, he made a full confession and also gave up his former entourage:

“Since then I have nothing to do with that crowd.”

District court representative Judge Peter Jung wanted to know how did he start using darknet methamphetamines. The judge was also after details about his intentions and past behavior.

The culprit said that he tried a marijuana joint when he was 17-years-old, back in 2016. After a while, a friend offered him crystal meth. He then got addicted, but only used it in the weekends as he wasn’t comfortable using it at his workplace where he’d have to work a diamond stone saw.

“I did not want to be in that drugged state while working. It would have been too dangerous for the Flex saw.” He also told the judge that he had quitted meth just before the police raided his house: “I thought I could control it. It’s not easy to stop; I went to work to distract myself.”

Being under 24 years of age, the court decided to judge him as a juvenile and suspend his six-month sentence over three years. He had no criminal priors, moved out at eighteen, and worked ever since. The defense argued that he only sold drugs to finance his addiction and that the 21-year-old was nor a big-time dealer nor a public hazard. Both the judge and prosecution considered there are good prospects for the accused and spared him jail time. A fine of €950 was finally imposed.Amberg, Germany

SOURCE: https://www.onetz.de/oberpfalz/amberg/21-jaehriger-kauft-drogen-darknet-id2618459.html

RESOURCE: https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=756

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtsgericht_Amberg

German police arrested a 42-year-old man trying to buy a Glock 17 and brass knuckles — he was threatening to kill a dozen Syrian immigrants

January 29, 2019January 29, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

On Monday, 28th of January 2019, the trial started against 42-year-old Matthias E. (photo). The man, father of two and recently separated, tried to purchase a Glock 17 and brass knuckles to avenge the death of his wife raped by twelve Syrian immigrants: a fake story, nonetheless, which puts into question the sanity of the accused.

In May 2018, investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany were informed by Australian law enforcement that a German man wanted to buy a firearm weapon with a silencer and 100 rounds of ammunition via darkweb. The Criminal Police Office (BKA) quickly red-coded the case and started tracking the man:

“We put code red on the case. We could not rule out that we have a potential gunman in front of us.”

Soon enough, on 19th of June 2018, the German police set up a meeting in Sachsenpark parking lot north of Leipzig. The man handed €2300 to the undercover agent, took the pistol, and then both got arrested by ready policemen in flagrant.For the prosecutors, who deal with tens of such cases each year, it was rather unusual for a suspect to write his motivations so quickly and detailed. Almost from the beginning, Matthias E. sent multiple e-mails to the undercover agents explaining how his wife committed suicide after being gang-raped by a dozen Syrian immigrant, and how he seeks revenge.

Surprisingly, the story was completely fake, denounced by both his 41-year-old ex-wife and a 38-year-old ex-girlfriend. The latter had recently moved out along with her two kids from his residence. Both women describe the man as being authoritarian and full of negativism.

His ex-girlfriend decalred: “He was very bitter. In his eyes, the whole world was bad.” Words confirmed by his ex-wife: “He was bossy and threatened me.”

Katrin Minkus, the representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office, argued that the accused would have used the weapon at least against close family members and that he’s a threat to public safety.

On the other hand, defense attorney Peter Hollstein claimed that Matthias was more a threat to himself than others and that he would’ve done “self-harm, never to third parties,” and that he was not “homicidal.”

The Saxon Attorney General’s Office had brought charges of unauthorized acquisition of a firearm and blunt weapon. Since then, Matthias E. has been in custody. He must spend the next three months in a psychiatric clinic for further evaluation, being suspected of suffering from a form of personality development disorder. Nevertheless, if the accused is found sane his risks a minimum of ten years in prison.

The trial will continue from 6th of February 2019, an LKA official announced.

SOURCE: http://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Polizeiticker/Polizeiticker-Leipzig/Waffensuche-im-Darknet-Ermittler-schlossen-Amoklauf-nicht-aus

RESOURCE:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_development_disorder

Seven years in prison for a 37-year-old German man for selling over 30 kilograms of darkweb marijuana and hashish — busted by the mailman

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019 / Edy / 1 Comment

Today, Monday 28th of January 2018, a 37-year-old software developer from Geldern, Germany was sentenced by the Kleve district court (photo) to seven years in prison for gang-related drug trafficking. He and his cousins had sold 32 kilograms of marijuana via a darkweb platform.

Similar to another recent case, the postman was the one who alerted the police after getting suspicious of the increasing parcels being sent to the mailboxes in the Sonsbecker area. Police monitored the zone and spotted the 37-year-old. Officers took photos and bugged his car with a GPS tracking device. On 15th of March 2018, law enforcement raided the culprit’s house and found a drug depot in the basement. More precisely, 17 kilograms of hashish, 15 kilograms of marijuana, and packaging material of professional caliber.

A witness confirmed that the manner in which the suspect packages were assembled reminded him of those seized by the police.

The accused had declared that he had received no money for his cooperation and that he just wanted to help his cousins with his business. However, the court was not convinced at all.

“I’ve been too naive,” said the defendant on Monday. He strongly underestimated the legal consequences: “I thought: What can happen, even if it comes out?”

The defendant had no criminal record and was working as a full-time job as a software entrepreneur since March 2018. His business is now failing, and he’s expected to pay fines and concede illegality-obtained property.

“The early days in custody almost destroyed me. However, it was my decision. I want to take responsibility for it and finish this life crisis clean.”

His lawyer asked for a conviction for aiding and abetting, but the prosecutor’s office asked for eight years of imprisonment for gang-related trafficking. Belonging to a gang while selling narcotics is an accusation that counted as an aggravating factor in the case and added several years to the final sentence. Judge Jürgen Ruby declared:

“It was about making selling as much as possible and making money as fast as possible,” taking about the defendant’s operation.

Aerial view of Kleve district court in Germany

Although the accused only sold marijuana, which is considered by the German penal code as one of the least severe narcotics for public safety, the judge added the gang affiliation charge — indicating that the defendant used violence at some time to pursue his illegal drug trafficking business.

SOURCE: https://rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/geldern/sieben-jahre-haft-fuer-darknet-dealer-aus-geldern_aid-35956235

https://www.radiokw.de/kreis-wesel/lokalnachrichten/lokalnachrichten/archive/2019/01/28/article/-ca330ac7d2.html

RESOURCE: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p0072

The Madrid police captured 74 kilograms of DarkWeb crystal MDMA (ecstasy) in Vila-real, Castellón — four people were arrested in collaboration with German law enforcement

January 28, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

Agents of the Spanish National Police in collaboration with the German Police of Würzburg and Unterfranken have seized a total of 74 kilograms (photos) of MDMA crystals (ecstasy) in two adjacent operations and resulted in the arrest of three people in Spain and one in Germany.

The largest of the two drug caches, as reported on Sunday 27th of January 2019 by sources of the Spanish National Police, amounts to 69 kilograms and was introduced from central Europe to Spain via large trucks with fake cargo papers. The narcotics were stashed in Vila-real and sold in Madrid. Shortly after, police found the second drug cache of 5 kilograms in Madrid which was ready to be sold on the streets or through darknet market platforms.

Four people were arrested, one individual in Germany and three in Spain. Among them, there’s the leader of the organization as well as two of his lieutenants.

The investigation began in 2015 when Spanish law enforcement became aware of a drug trafficking organization dedicated to introducing MDMA into the country. After several search efforts, they located the transport route used to introduce the synthetic drug in Spain by trucks, hiding it among other commercial products with fake transport documents. The narcotics would arrive at Vila-real and moved to Madrid in different vehicles. More so, the criminal group was well organized and had an efficient continental communication infrastructure which slowed down the police inquiry.

The group is facing a minimum of ten years in prison and seizing of illegal revenue or propriety. Furthermore, if the court identifies aggravating circumstances such as selling to minors, firearms possession, or endangering public health, the penalties can go up to 21 years of incarceration.

MDMA or ecstasy is a substance from the family of amphetamines, considered relatively safe for human consumption in its purest form. However, the main problem with synthetic drugs, in general, stands in the chemical characterization of the particular narcotic tablet, crystal, dose, or larger lot of drugs. Forensics will have to analyze both the doses and method of trafficking to establish how much of a public safety hazard was the gang. They’ll come up with a purity and concentration rating of the captured darkweb ecstasy crystals for the court to decide the punishments.

SOURCE: http://www.elperiodicodeaqui.com/epda-noticias/incautados-74-kilos-de-la-droga-mdma-en-madrid-que-tenia-el-centro-de-recepcion-en-vila-real/174648

https://www.abc.es/espana/comunidad-valenciana/abci-intervienen-74-kilos-mdma-vendia-internet-oscura-moneda-virtual-201901271134_noticia.html

http://www.telemadrid.es/noticias/madrid/Policia-Nacional-interviene-MDMA-Madrid-0-2089591024–20190127110523.html

RESOURCE: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/countries/drug-reports/2018/spain/drug-laws-and-drug-law-offences_en

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3931692/

Police caught the second member of a darknet drug-pushing trio from Germany hiding in Bangkok — the third member wants to give up as well

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

David Maas (photo) is the 26-year-old leader of a darknet drug gang who was apprehended in November of 2018. He now returns to Germany from Bangkok, Thailand to face trial. One of his accomplices, a 29-years-old man, was already sentenced to six years in prison in August of 2018, and the third member also signaled his willingness to give himself up from the United States. The judge has accepted his surrender.

The trio from Stade, Germany was running a large-scale darknet drug shipping operation between April and November of 2017. An estimated total of over 2000 parcels for €200,000 euros.

At the end of 2017, after busting the darknet platform from which they operated, investigators thought the group was dismantled. In reality, the trio had escaped abroad.

David had even tried to derail the investigators by sending a letter to his imprisoned accomplice saying he’s sorry for everything that happened. The letter was designed to indicate a provenience from either the Philippines or Indonesia. However, the Central Crime Inspection (ZKI) were not fooled at all.

Senior prosecutor Kai-Thomas Breas explained how the embassy had revoked the passport of David Maas, rendering his stay in Bangkok illegal. Soon enough, David was caught by the Thai policemen and arrested. He was sent to a Thai jail which the prosecution describes as:

“Two dozen prisoners in a kind of a cage, a hole in the cell as a toilet, neon lighting day and night.”

After INTERPOL and German officials warned the Thai police of the warrant, David was checked by the Bangkok police at the BTS Phra Khanong station on Monday, 29th of October 2018. He was found guilty of overstaying his visa by 257 days. It has been discovered that David entered the country by air on 16th of January 2018.

The Thai officers sent the detailed information to the Lüneburg investigators. The culprit was promptly picked up by the German authorities and returned to Frankfurt on Wednesday, November the 1st of 2018 at 5:50 AM.

David Maas is risking a penalty between 5 and 15 years of prison. Taking into account the fact that he’s accused as being the leader of the group, he’ll more than likely receive a higher sentence than his colleague’s term of six years. More so, David Maas is also accused of taking part in the theft of electronic devices in Germany around November of 2017.

He has been cooperating with the authorities. The trial is expected to begin in the spring of 2019.

BTS Phra Khanong station, Bangkok, Thailand

SOURCE: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30357759

https://www.tageblatt.de/lokales/blaulicht_artikel,-Polizei-fasst-die-fluechtigen-Buxtehuder-Darknet-Dealer-_arid,1418138.html
https://www.kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de/buxtehude/blaulicht/darknet-deals-in-buxtehude-organisiert-mutmasslicher-haupttaeter-in-bangkok-festgenommen-d126401.html

https://www.kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de/buxtehude/blaulicht/urlaubskarte-vom-komplizen-an-angeklagten-darknet-dealer-d117283.html

https://www.landeszeitung.de/blog/lokales/2067332-zielfahnder

A drug-peddling gang from Enschede, Holland is in court for smuggling narcotics through the Ahaus border to Germany for an estimated total of €400,000

January 22, 2019 / Edy / Leave a comment

On Monday morning 21st of January 2018, the district court in Münster saw the appearance of two members of a gang accused of international hard-drug trafficking.

The two Dutchmen played different roles within the criminal group: 29-year-old Frank. L. was a high-ranking member, while 25-year-old Lukas R. from the Dutch city of Goor was responsible for crossing the border into Germany and sending the parcels from the Ahauser post office for modest sums of tens of euros per delivery. More precisely, €10 for a small box and €50 euros for larger ones where they’d negotiate conditions.

Lukas R. would cross the border into Germany and send the vacuum-sealed narcotics nationally or internationally from Ahauser post offices in order to better evade police controls. Until just a couple of months ago, the gang sold marijuana and hashish but also harder drugs such as ecstasy and amphetamines for an estimated total of €400,000.

One of these couriers was Lukas R. from the Dutch city of Goor. Even before the trial began, Lukas arranged his full admission of guilt with his lawyer. He read his statement with trembling hands and voice, saying that he received the “job” offer in March 2018 in a coffee shop in Enschede. Furthermore, he declared that he never checked the packages:

“I was unemployed for a short time, and I was convinced that it was just hashish and marijuana,” said the 25-year-old.

However, most orders contained MDMA and amphetamines. The prosecutor remained skeptical:

“Have you never been suspicious? Marijuana packages of that weight would have been many times bigger.”

Lukas R. denied. Although he admitted to smoking marijuana on a regular basis, he had never dealt with such amounts. In addition, he pointed out that he had demonstrably rejected a €1500 offer for smuggling cocaine:

“I would never do that.” There was a clear moral limit for Lukas.

For the proven eight journeys from Enschede to Ahaus and Nordhorn, the 25-year-old could go to jail for up to four years. Another gang trafficker was sentenced by the same court in August of 2018 to imprisonment for three years and nine months.

On the other hand, higher-ranking 29-year-old Frank. L. was more discrete in his declarations. Also because Lukas R. has incriminated him multiple times before the judge:

“Most of the supplies I received personally from him,” says Lukas R.

To make things worse, the detectives found the key of the drug stash on Frank L., confirming the testimony of Lukas R. At the end of the hearing on Monday, the court announced:

“If the defendant (Lukas R.) engages in a detailed confession, the maximum sentence for imprisonment is eight years and six months. The lower limit is eight years.”

Implying that the accused could alleviate his sentence by giving a full confession. Moreso, the maximum punishment isn’t fixed yet as the case is still pending in await of capturing the gang leader who is still at large. Thus, also implying that if the defendant chooses to hinder the investigation, he could face more than eight years and six months of incarceration.

Lukas, however, gave signals of wanting to fully cooperate with the authorities, taking into consideration past private meetings with the judge and prosecution.

“We want to formulate it together and bring it to the next meeting,” said the lawyer of Frank L.

The trial before the district court has assumed considerable proportions, involving many individuals, some of them still uncaptured such as the ringleader of the group. Such a large trial has also created substantial bureaucracy. The prosecutor needed 50 minutes just to read the 1200-page indictment at the start of the hearing. Process still in course.

Inside and outside of the district court in Münster, Germany

SOURCE: https://www.halternerzeitung.de/nachrichten/ahaus/drogenbande-nutzt-ahaus-als-umschlagplatz-zwei-mitglieder-vor-gericht-plus-1368063.html?overlay_registration=true&NewReg=true

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