Spain

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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/

Thirteen suspects from the Italian Lovato clan are finally being sent to court after operation “Bitcoin” successfully ended — 100 kilograms of drugs (photo) and €200,000 in cash seized

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Code-named operation “Bitcoin,” sponsored by the Italian public ministry of
Benedetto Roberti has successfully ended with the capture of 100 kilograms of drugs, €200.000 in cash, and thirteen suspects sent in court on various accusations of money laundering and narcotics trafficking as of 23 of January 2019.

An underworld criminal gang known as the Lovato clan from Padova, Italy was raided on 9th of October 2018 after almost two years of infiltrating undercover agents, surveillance, and intranet monitoring — the group conducted the majority of its business through the darknet. The months of hard detective work by the Mobile Squad of Padova Police Headquarters culminated in a break-and-enter raid which resulted in the arrest of 9 people, 100 kg of drugs, and €200,000 in cash.

The sting operation resulted in 25 kilograms of hashish, 75 kilograms of marijuana, 200 grams of cocaine, hallucinogen shrooms, opium, cannabis biscuits, paraphernalia, packaging material, and the cash sum of €205 thousand.

Among the accused, is the leader of the gang Emanuele “Dottore” Lovato. A 35-year-old man originally from Verona who was in charge of the “Alexander” bar in San Francesco street.

More so, Lovato’s trusted friend, 21-year-old Piero Pasqualin is also going to court. Piero is a bass player originally from Treviso, cited as one of the thirteen suspects. Piero was in charge of Lovato’s financials. He would convert money into cryptocurrency, order drugs from the deep web, communicate with the sellers via encrypted messaging through Wicker app, and would personally unload the parcels as seen in the police surveillance photos.

Millions of euros were spent on the darkweb to buy drugs from Spain and The Netherlands through Bitcoin and Ethereum. Police estimate a total profit of €20 million which were partially laundered by Emanuele Lovato and another accomplice Marte Denyz Akyil. Both received accusations of money laundering and fiscal fraud.

Lovato was renting a €1,600 villa in Mentana street where he accommodated three of his associates: 30-year-old Raul Buta, 24-year-old Omar Abo Rai, and 29-years-old Marte Denyz Akyil. In the villa, the police found 20 kilograms of drugs cleverly hidden in a modified piece of furniture.

Furthermore, the ringleader kept drugs in his own house where he was living with his concubine Marianna Zoia. More drugs were found in two other apartments, one in Belzoni street and one in Lepanto street, both pertaining to the couple.

The chain of raids started with a breakthrough in Milan where police entered the residence of father and son Claudio and Andrea La Rosa. The duo was storing the bulk of the drugs before sending it to Padova via the courier. Police found the €205.000 in their house.

The main courier for the large drug parcels was 20-year old Francesco Di Maria who was arrested in June 2018 with 11 kilograms of marijuana at an Autogrill highway stop in the proximity of Limenella. The policemen became suspicious of a Citroen C1 car parked in the service area for too long, under the sun with the air conditioner on. The car resulted to be leased from Milan, and upon searching, they found 11 kilograms of marijuana divided in packs of one kilogram. By searching the car’s GPS, the policemen tracked the destination to a warehouse in Milan where they found 39 kilograms of marijuana and packaging material of an estimated value of €300.000 in street money.

Another stash house was located in Turin, 27-year-old Lorenzo Dal Fabbro was arrested, alongside 24-year-old Abo Raia. A total of 16 different raids were executed.

The organization was trafficking large quantities of drugs through the city of Santo. As a helping hand, Lovato involved his 37-year-old concubine, Marianna Zoia who initially denied any form of involvement. Furthermore, many other acquaintances were working for the “Doctor,” as Lovato was known locally: couriers, students, bass players, and singers, even “runners” that would get paid €100 a day to do Lovato’s bidding.

On 28th of December 2018, the public prosecutor solicited the immediate judgment of Emanuele Lovato, Marianna Zoia, Raul Buta, and Lorenzo Dal Fabbro, considered the dome of the organization. Now the process also opens up for the accomplices. They are facing a minimum of ten years of incarceration.

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SOURCE: http://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/15435bc6e1d632bdf662493618

http://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/135bbc687c188f6747736421

MORE PHOTOS: https://www.padovaoggi.it/cronaca/operazione-bitcoin-spaccio-droga-lovato-fine-indagini-processo-padova-23-gennaio-2019.html

https://www.padovaoggi.it/cronaca/operazione-bitcoin-arresto-pasqualin-carcere-treviso-padova-18-dicembre-2018.html

https://www.padovaoggi.it/cronaca/blitz-droga-arresti-sequestri-padova-9-ottobre-2018.html

https://www.padovaoggi.it/cronaca/spaccio-arresto-squadra-mobile-padova-21-giugno-2018.html

Four German men aged 35 to 39 are indicted for selling counterfeit money and hard drugs on a darknet platform

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On Thursday 17th of January 2018, a court spokesman declared that the four men aged 35 to 39 from Frankfurt and Offenbach are expected in the district court of Frankfurt on accusations of internationally selling cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, LSD, hashish, marijuana, and counterfeit money.

The court affidavit states that the group sent almost 170 orders at home and abroad from December 2017 to August 2018. It’s estimated that the total illegal revenue is of a “lower five-digit sum.”

In addition to drug trafficking, they are said to have offered a number of fake €500 banknotes of “relatively good quality” on the Darknet for sale. One of the men is said to have imported more than eight kilograms of marijuana from Spain.

The four men were arrested last August of 2018 after covert investigations by the Central Office for the Suppression of Cybercrime (ZIT) of the Attorney General Frankfurt and the Hessian State Criminal Police Office. Since then they are in custody and awaiting sentencing.

Regarding money forging, the German penal code provides a punishment from one to ten years. For less serious cases, imprisonment from six months to five years. Furthermore, drug trafficking shall be punished by incarceration of up to five years and/or a fine. More severe penalties are required for those who act on a commercial basis or endangers the health of others. The group is expected to receive up to five years in prison and hefty fines and property confiscations.

SOURCE: https://www.welt.de/regionales/hessen/article187219264/Anklage-gegen-vier-Maenner-wegen-Drogenhandels-im-Darknet.html

https://www.op-online.de/offenbach/drogenhandel-darknet-maenner-offenbach-angeklagt-11282122.html

RESOURCE: http://endriss-kollegen.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/What-you-should-know-about-German-Narcotics-Law.pdf

https://www.lewik.org/term/15802/forgery-section-267-german-criminal-code/

A 62-year-old man from Spain was arrested as part of Operation Napalm for possession of extremely disturbing child pornography from DarkWeb forums

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The Civil Guard of Burgos has arrested, in the framework of Operation Napalm, a 62-year-old man, who lived in the province of Palencia, Spain under the accusations of instigating to prostitution and sexual exploitation, corruption of minors, and possession of pedopornography.

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The investigation started in November 2018 when the Commandery of Burgos was informed, as a result of the measures for prevention and risk detection by the Corps personnel, of the possible existence of certain computer files related to the sexual exploitation of children. The Technological Investigation Team of the Judicial Police Organic Unit of Burgos took charge of the investigations, aiming to recover all possible files in immediate circulation, identify its recent owners, arrest the suspects, and organize proof for the criminal case. The PC registry of the suspect verified the existence of images of explicitly pornographic content and “extremely hard” images of young children.

In the house, four storage devices (HDDs) have been confiscated and are being currently under inquiry. Most of the media come from downloads through the deepweb, through “Peer to Peer” programs, or through private forums on the darknet.

“Nothing indicates so far that the victims are within our borders,” the police Command explains.

The Operation has been directed by the Court of Instruction of Carrión de los Condes, Palencia and seeks to root out other implicated members in the file transfers. Spain is both a transit and destination country for children trafficked for sexual purposes and it’s considered the largest host of child pornography in Europe. Since adopting the new European Union laws against child exploitation, the 62-year-old culprit is to be expecting no more than a few years of prison. Unlike other European countries who haven’t adopted the new European Union penal code against pedophiles, Spain has somewhat lowered the de jure punishment for pedopornography crimes. Italy, for example, would theoretically give a much harsher penalty for a similar case, providing a penalty from 8 to 12 years in prison, while the European Union law provides 1 to 3 years or 5 to 10 years for severe cases.

SOURCE: https://www.europapress.es/castilla-y-leon/noticia-detenido-palencia-hombre-62-anos-material-pedofilo-extremadamente-duro-20190112130858.html

https://www.publico.es/sociedad/detenido-hombre-62-anos-material-pedofilo-extremadamente-duro.html

RESOURCE:

http://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Factsheet_Spain.pdf

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32011L0093

Click to access Legislation_on_Child_Pornography_Public1.pdf