The Postal Police of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy apprehended a 28-year-old man for solicitation of minors, possession of child pornography, and a third accusation pending investigation. He is indicted for luring three 10-year-olds over the general chat in popular video games and for possession of highly disturbing child pornography. Prosecutors found that in at least one instance, the man offered a €10 Fortnite gift card as bait to one of the children involved in the inquiry.

The investigation began when two mothers of the three children alarmed the police after recognizing suspicious behavior from their respective child.
As described by one of the mothers, her son began to act strangely, especially at night. He desperately wanted to be alone and even shoved his sister out of his room.

More so, after winning the victim’s trust in gaming chats, the pervert would move to WhatsApp to request sexual pictures and videos of the kids. The sexual predator had a lot in common with the infamous “Bored Group,” and pretended to be a 16-year-old teenager or even a 9-year-old.

On 10th of January 2019, a raid was executed at the residence of the accused. His telephone and PC revealed 24 video chats in which the children undress, violent and necrophiliac videos of children, and other highly antisocial media.

“I know I’m sick,” the suspect told the officers.

More worrying is that the fact that the man was known to the authorities for another story related to child pornography in which he had a marginal position. It’s the first time in Italy a pedophile was actively searching victims in such a manner. According to Italian law, he’s risking imprisonment from six to twelve years and fines from €25,822 to € 258,228.

Interview in Italian with officer Francesco Greco (second from left) in which he briefly explains the investigation and warns parents about the dangers of letting kids play video games unsupervised. Report from the conference in Cagliari about the case, courtesy of www.unionesarda.it

SOURCE: https://www.unionesarda.it/articolo/news-sardegna/cagliari/2019/01/10/mi-mandi-una-foto-intima-cagliari-arrestato-pedofilo-136-820627.html

https://www.commissariatodips.it/approfondimenti/pedofilia-online/approfondimenti-normativi.html

A man from Haßfurter district, Germany was accused in 2014 for trafficking drugs through the darkweb as a part of operation OP Onimus, a broader national bust on deep web black markets. This Wednesday, 9th of January 2018, the court stop the proceeding due to lacking evidence against the accused, mainly, because the man used the Tor browser on his laptop and cellular.

He was indicted, however, of drug consumption which is a less severe crime than internet drug trafficking. The court decided on an €1800 fine and drug rehabilitation from the non-profit organization Caritas, thus closing the criminal case.

The man was accused of ordering 360 very concentrated ecstasy pills and 200 grams of amphetamine on a darknet platform on seven occasions, with a very high purity of 50 to 70 percent. His house was raided in September of 2017 by the Schweinfurt Federal Criminal Police Office. The police found small amounts of drugs, a joint and drug paraphernalia. Most interesting is the fact that the Tor browser was installed on both his PC and cellphone which cancels browsing data from the device once closed. Because of this, the officials couldn’t prove the drug orders.

To get more information, the authorities would have had to remove the storage media from the laptop. However, the device would have been destroyed, which seemed a disproportionate effort to the officials.

The jury court stopped the proceedings due to lack of evidence, and only accused the defendant of drug consumption. The prosecution reminded the man that bad people inevitably return back to the courthouse. The accused has to pay €1800 and seek drug treatment.

SOURCE:
https://www.mainpost.de/regional/hassberge/Drogenbestellung-im-Darknet-ist-nicht-mehr-nachweisbar;art513833,10150762

https://www.infranken.de/regional/hassberge/das-darknet-gab-nichts-preis;art217,3970070

Gregory Paul Green, 63 years old, and his daughter, Brittany Green, 29 years old, from 1716 Westwood Drive, Billings, Montana were arrested for allegedly running a large-scale drug trafficking operation over the deep web in exchange of cryptocurrency, mainly bitcoin.

The U.S. District Court in Billings released a preliminary affidavit on Friday the 4th of January 2019, in which special FBI agent Michael Robinson describes the investigation. The court testimony details the house raid executed just a day before that had brought to light a hidden “clandestine methamphetamine lab” in the basement. Both accused are currently being held under custody at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility without bond under federal charges of conspiracy to distribute schedule II controlled substances. They risk a minimum of 10 years of incarceration and fines starting from $50,000.

The investigation started on 18th of December 2018 after Michigan Customs and Border Patrol officers seized a parcel from Canada destined to Green’s home. More so, the package was labeled “organic fitness vitamin,” but instead, the officers found 1,500 Xanax (alprazolam) tablets.

Two weeks later, on January the 3rd 2019, the FBI raided Green’s house. The leader of the operation, FBI Officer Michael Robinson, wrote the findings of the raid in the affidavit presented in court:

1. Upon accessing the basement, an improvised meth laboratory was discovered. The Billings Fire Department’s hazmat team was called to further inspect and secure the perimeter. Brittany Green declared that the laboratory was not intended to manufacture drugs, but for “washing” them. Meaning that the laboratory was used to remove impurities from the trafficked drugs.

According to Montana Criminal law, the distinction between the two is fairly significant: drug manufacturing and distribution are two distinct criminal accusations which imply different cumulative prison terms;

2. Also in the basement, the agents found hundreds of paraphernalia items, hundreds of feet of glass tubing used to create meth pipes, a 100-pound (45 kg) butane tank, and documented instructions on how to “combine drugs for redistribution,” intended for Brittany Green, the official court affidavit describes;

3. In Gregory’s room on the first floor, the FBI found a computer with the darknet marketplace page displayed from where the pair was selling drugs;

4. Financial paperwork was also secured with indications of bitcoin transactions;

5. A ready-to-go parcel was discovered in the office containing a quarter-ounce (7 grams) of methamphetamine and two Xanax pills;

6. Among many unidentified substances awaiting forensic analysis, carfentanil was also found in the residence.

Gregory Paul and Brittany Green are awaiting sentencing at a currently unknown date.

SOURCE: https://billingsgazette.com/news/crime/billings-man-daughter-accused-of-running-dark-web-drug-operation/article_7259a48d-5d9f-518e-8727-9d74b758e50b.html

https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/45/9/45-9-101.htm

On Monday 8th of January 2019, Eimantas Juskevicius, a 24-year-old man from Kansas City, Florida has pleaded guilty to selling 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of cocaine via U.S. Postal Service and has been ordered to forfeit $200,000 in drug revenue. He’s awaiting sentencing and faces up to 15 years in prison.

The FBI began the investigation in May of 2017 when the authorities placed an order from the dealer. A package shortly arrived containing 9 grams of cocaine, mailed from an address in Miami. Further inquiries confirmed other nine similar packages arrived in other cities that day from the same address. The police set a flagrant drug order from the culprit in June of 2017 and traced the car license of the accused on a CCTV video while he was mailing the drugs.

The court has estimated that Juskevicius made $201,000 from drug revenue, thus the fine of $200,000. The sentencing date has not yet been disclosed.

SOURCE: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article224023840.html

https://bustednewspaper.com/fl-broward-juskevicius-eimantas-2018-03-28/

Charlie Robinson from Barrowhouse, Laois County, Irland is a 21-year-old man found guilty of viewing, exchanging, and having close to 194 videos and 272 images of both penetrative and non-penetrative sex with underage children. He was accused on 24th of March 2018 and sentenced to two years of prison suspended over a period of five years, alongside psychological treatment and probation supervision. Furthermore, the court banned the sex offender from using the internet for five years and also ordered the culprit to pay Barnardo’s children’s charity the sum of €12,000 in four annual installments on top of the €500 peace bond.

The Irish Gardaí officers tracked the IP address of the 21-year-old and obtained a search warrant which resulted in the seizure of an iPhone and iPad. A set of forensic specialists analyzed the disturbing material and confirmed the severity of the content.

The defense argued that Charlie is not a pedophile but a sex addict. Claiming that his enjoyment did not derive from the specific intercourse between adults and children. He stated that he even avoided re-watching some of the videos sent to his dropbox because it made him unconformable. More precisely, the defense attorney argued that his client ended up consuming pedophilia because of his ever-increasing sex addiction.

“He is adamant that he does not have any interest in children and is not a pedophile,” said Judge Johnson.

On the other hand, Charlie was not only consuming pedophilia but also sharing the illegal material with other individuals. The defense argued that although the accused shared files with third-parties, it wasn’t nor sold nor bought, thus not contributing to the revenues of international pedopornography.

“Although the accused did not contribute to the revenues generated by the despicable child pornography industry. The proliferation of child pornography on the internet is a curse on modern society. People like the accused who access these sites act as enablers to those who promulgate and produce child pornography. Without people like the accused viewing child pornography, the market for it would diminish, and the motivation for producing it would be considerably reduced.” Judge Johnson declared.

The court took into account the young age of the culprit, as well as the findings of the court psychiatrists and forensics which tended to indicate that Charlie is not a danger to the public and that he didn’t act as an enabler of the child pornography industry.

SOURCE: https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/home/356204/laois-man-had-child-pornography.html

Simon Desue Wohnhaus is a 27-year-old famous video producer and entertainer with 4 million subscribers on Youtube based in Hamburg, Germany. The young and energetic content creator, alongside his girlfriend Enisa Bukvic posted a series of videos which caught the attention of prosecutors. The couple filmed themselves buying a coffee machine from Saturn electronics stores with what they claim to be counterfeit money purchased from the Darkweb.

In the first video posted on Monday 31st of December 2018, Simon explains how he bought a trolley off the darknet which contained a laptop filled with images depicting paranormal activities, webcam hacking servers, and a text file with multiple onion addresses to drug and counterfeit websites.

In a second video posted on Thursday 3rd of January 2019, Simon asks for 20 thousand likes to complete the ‘challenge:’ going to a store and buying something with the fake money. He claimed to have purchased 10 thousand counterfeit euros.

Shortly after, on 4th of January 2019, Simon uploaded the third video of him and his girlfriend successfully buying a coffee machine at Saturn electronics in Mönckebergstraße, Hamburg with 50 euro banknotes. The purchase was recorded by the couple with a hidden camera. More interestingly, at the end of the video, Simon asked for another 20 thousand likes to get the money stack banderole checked at the bank. However, such video would never see the light of day due to a raid and subsequent confiscation of the fake money by the Landeskriminalamt (LKA) police.

Police spokesman Florian Abbenseth confirmed the ongoing investigation against Simon on counts of counterfeiting. A mandated raid by the State Criminal Police Office in Simon’s home resulted in the seizure of 9850 euros fake money. Florian Abbenseth explains that even if the money was real, there has to be an evaluation regarding public instigation to commit fiscal fraud.

Prison term or not, Simon is to be expected to receive heavy fines up to tens of thousands of euros for his actions. Similar cases such as those of ApoRed and Leon Machère resulted in substantial penalties for different pranks or public manifestations.

   LKA officials leave the apartment of Simon Desue after raiding it. Photo by M. Arning

SOURCE: https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article216148481/Falschgeld-Ermittlungen-gegen-YouTube-Star.html

https://www.focus.de/regional/hamburg/hamburg-mit-falschgeld-bei-saturn-eingekauft-polizei-ermittelt-gegen-youtube-star-simon-desue_id_10150424.html

New Yorker Christian Maire (photo), 40 years of age and father of two, was the leader of an online sexual predator group called the “Bored Group.” The gang of nine sexual offenders was convicted to decades in prison at the beginning of December 2018 for luring and exploiting girls aged 8-17.

The fight occurred on Tuesday the 1st of January 2019 and Christian has been pronounced dead on Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital. Preliminary investigations indicate that at least one attacker had an improvised knife, commonly known as a shiv.

Friday 4th of January 2018, the Federal Bureau of Prisons released a statement saying that Christian Maire died of life-threatening injuries following a violent altercation involving other seven inmates at the low-security Milan detention center. It holds 1,370 inmates, and it’s situated 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Furthermore, some sources indicate that the other two injured inmates are ex-members of the pedophile group: Michal Figura, 36 years old, an IT specialist at the University of Pennsylvania convicted to 31 years and Jonathan Negroni Rodriguez, 37 years old, of West Hollywood, California convicted to 35 years.

Raymond Cassar, the attorney of Jonathan Negroni Rodriguez, had this to declare:

“It’s murder and it’s horrible for anyone to get hurt or injured. This just doesn’t happen in a Michigan federal prison system.”

According to prison records, at least five other gang members are incarcerated at Milan detention center.

Their arrest by the FBI back in 2017 made the national cover. The men were using elaborate psychological schemes and internet tactics to manipulate underage girls to perform sexual acts and even self-harm. Each member had its role and hunted systematically on websites such as Gifyo, Periscope, YouNow, and MyLOL.com. A complex communication system was put in place between the gang members that would conspire against underage female individuals. Often, they’d use videos and images of young boys to deceit the girls into performing various acts. They would also keep an archive of girls including personal information and a psychological portrait. All nine offenders were convicted between 30 and 40 years of incarceration.

Following the incident, the prison went into a “limited operational status,” suspended visits, and started an investigation. Out of the seven inmates involved in the fight, three were seriously injured, and two staff personnel were treated for minor injuries.

More on the “Bored Group” from a past article.

Other convicted members:
1. Arthur Simpatico, 47 years old, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Sentenced to 38 years;
2. Jonathan Negroni Rodriguez, 37 years old, of West Hollywood, California. Sentenced to 35 years;
3. Michal Figura, 36 years old, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Sentenced to 31¼ years;
4. Odell Ortega, 37 years old, of Miami. Sentenced to 37½ years;
5. Brett Jonathan Sinta, 36 years old, of Hickory, North Carolina. Sentenced to 30½ years;
6. Caleb Young, 38 years-old, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Sentenced to 30 years;
7. Daniel Walton, 34 years old, of Saginaw, Texas. Sentenced to 30½ years;
8. William T. Phillips, 39, of Highland, New York. Sentenced to 33 years.

SOURCE: https://eu.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/04/christian-maire-child-porn-milan/2483135002/

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/03/death-reported-milan-federal-prison-michigan/2477366002/

The Civil Police of the Federal District arrested three men suspected of being part of the alleged terrorist group Secret Society Silvestre that claimed to have placed a self-made explosive device (photo) near the Infant Jesus Sanctuary on Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th of December 2018. The group ran a darknet blog called the Secret Silvestre Society.

Video of the IED posted by an inside informant: https://L2s.Pet/XEhNSuJC

Federal Police and the Brazilian Research Agency investigated the group and confirmed the terroristic intentions. One of the culprits had triple nationality and traveled abroad often. Furthermore, on Monday 31st of December 2018, the police seized a PDF manual to making bombs in one of the home raids.

The case involving the alleged terrorist group began when a person passing in front of the Baby Jesus Sanctuary in Brazlândia found the presence of a backpack next to the church and alarmed the Military Police. The Anti-Bomb Group of the Special Operations Battalion was mobilized and safely detonated the bomb after evacuating the area around 4 PM.

According to BOPE, the bomb had considerable destructive power. The explosive device consisted of a fire extinguisher cylinder filled with gunpowder and nails, armed with an analogic watch detonator. The alleged extremist group claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing.

“We demand the abandonment of a 5kg explosive stuffed with nails and black powder in the Sanctuary of Jesus Christ,” said a text posted on the darkweb.

According to church official Jaime Francisco, a Church Mass was held in the temple on the day the IED would’ve blown up. As estimated by the sanctuary collaborator, about one thousand people participated in the religious ceremony.

“There was no one else here. It was after Mass and the place was closed. Someone saw the suitcase on the street and called the police,” Francisco said.

Investigators firstly reached the Ancestral Curse darknet website, where the alleged terrorist group, Secret Society Silvestre, made a series of threats to President Jair Bolsonaro and other targets, such as the future Minister for Women, Family and Rights Human Rights, Damares Alves, and the president of the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), Cardinal Dom Sérgio da Rocha.

In sections of a text published on the darknet, the alleged criminal organization said:

“If the hit was not enough to kill Bolsonaro, he might have more surprises at some other time, since we are not the only ones wanting his head.”

On Friday 28th of December 2018, more information came from an informant who called himself “Pedro.” He forwarded vital information to the authorities via encrypted e-mails and even answered ten questions from the policemen. Pedro also sent a 3-minute video of him highlighting and focusing on the IED. Images took before the bomb planting.

Pedro stated that the Silvestre Secret Society has been responsible, since 2016, for at least six attacks in the national territory. Among them was the explosion of a pressure cooker loaded with gunpowder and nails in front of the Conjunto Nacional shopping mall on August the 1st 2016, in the middle of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

In the texts sent, the man disregarded the police forces:

“We learned later that they tried to get us, but their competence was low and we went unpunished and unmasked.”

On Sunday 30th of December 2018, the Minister of the Institutional Security Office, General Sérgio Etchegoyen, confirmed that the threats of attack against the president-elect were real and that security precautions were put in place for the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday 1st of January 2019 which went smooth and without incident.

According to the Federal Police, investigations are continuing to determine all the criminal implications of the group. They’re facing life in prison.

SOURCE: https://www.metropoles.com/colunas-blogs/grande-angular/pcdf-prende-grupo-terrorista-suspeito-de-fazer-ameacas-a-bolsonaro

https://www.metropoles.com/distrito-federal/policia-federal-investiga-ameaca-terrorista-a-posse-de-jair-bolsonaro

https://www.metropoles.com/distrito-federal/seguranca-df/panela-de-pressao-com-pregos-explode-proximo-ao-conjunto-nacional

On Sunday 23rd of December 2018, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office declared that they apprehended nine drug dealers all in their 20s and 30s who trafficked drugs via the darknet. Mr. Shin, one of the arrested men, is also the owner of the dark web website through which the suspects conducted the narco-trade.

The group is accused of growing and selling self-made marijuana and hashish, selling psychoactive drugs such as LSD and MDMA imported from other countries, and using drugs. Between March and November of 2018, the website had 636 members with an estimated number of 50 drug sales.

It is the first time in South Korea an administrator of a darknet drug website has been arrested and its website shut down. The online marketplace had 636 members between March and November of 2018 and reportedly brokered sales of drugs on 50 occasions. Members often used the “DarkCoin” cryptocurrency.

Prosecution confiscated and investigated multiple computers and phones, alongside a sum of $88,700 considered to have derived from illegal activities.

The group is facing decades or even life in prison. According to the strict South Korean drug laws, regulated through the Narcotics Act, the Psychotropic Drugs Control Act, and the Cannabis Control Act. The minimum expected sentence is 20 years of incarceration, hefty fines, property seizures, and mandatory rehabilitation programs.

Despite the medical cannabis reform South Korea, recreational cannabis remains strictly forbidden, punishable by up to five years of incarceration and a fine of about $44,000. Furthermore, both LSD and MDMA are considered hard drugs punishable by harder standards. Also, the selling of drugs with the primary intent of making profit also carries a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.

SOURCES:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181223000103
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51181782.pdf
https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=37716&lang=ENG