Relaunched Crimenetwork falls to European cyber police

German and Spanish police have shut down a revived version of Crimenetwork, the German-speaking dark web marketplace that had re-emerged within days of its 2024 takedown, arresting a 35-year-old German citizen at his home in Mallorca under a European arrest warrant.

The suspect, from the Recklinghausen district in North Rhine-Westphalia, is accused of building and administering a new technical infrastructure for Crimenetwork after the original platform was dismantled in December 2024. The relaunched marketplace had gathered more than 22,000 users and over 100 vendors, offering stolen data, narcotics, forged documents and other illicit goods and services through cryptocurrency payments.

Investigators say the rebooted platform generated more than €3.6 million in turnover before it was seized. Around €194,000 in assets linked directly to the marketplace were provisionally secured, while extensive user and transaction records were obtained for follow-up inquiries. The data haul is expected to support a wider sweep against vendors, buyers, intermediaries and cryptocurrency wallets tied to the marketplace.

The arrest was carried out by a special unit of Spain’s National Police after coordination with prosecutors in Frankfurt am Main and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office. Eurojust supported the cross-border action, while Moldovan cybercrime investigators also assisted. The case underlines how dark web markets now rely on dispersed infrastructure and multiple jurisdictions to frustrate enforcement, forcing investigators to combine server seizures, blockchain tracing, undercover work and international arrest procedures.

Crimenetwork had operated for more than a decade before its first shutdown. It was regarded as one of the most important German-language underground marketplaces, with more than 100,000 registered users and over 100 sellers before the December 2024 operation. Between 2018 and 2024, transactions on the original platform reached at least 1,000 Bitcoin and more than 20,000 Monero, giving investigators a picture of a mature criminal marketplace supported by commissions, seller subscriptions and advertising fees.

The new case shows how quickly underground forums can attempt to reconstitute after takedowns. Investigators allege the 35-year-old suspect built a fresh version of Crimenetwork only days after the old site was seized and its former administrator arrested. The revived marketplace used the same name and catered largely to German-speaking users, with payments handled in Bitcoin, Litecoin and Monero.

The suspect faces allegations under Germany’s criminal code relating to the operation of criminal trading platforms on the internet, alongside narcotics offences involving trade in significant quantities. Conviction could carry a substantial prison sentence, although extradition proceedings in Spain remain pending. Authorities have not disclosed when he will be transferred to Germany.

The case also intersects with a separate fraud inquiry in Baden-Württemberg. The same suspect is alleged to have operated more than 40 fake online shops between March 2023 and January 2025. Those sites were designed to look legitimate, taking payments for goods that were never delivered. Investigators have identified more than 1,000 victims across Germany, with losses of at least €323,000. Victims were traced in Offenburg, Reutlingen, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and other regions.

Searches linked to the Mallorca arrest were conducted in Spain and Germany, including properties associated with two alleged accomplices in Kaltenkirchen in Schleswig-Holstein and Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the suspect’s Mallorca residence, investigators seized data carriers and Bitcoin worth about €314,000. The digital evidence is likely to be central to reconstructing marketplace administration, vendor privileges, escrow flows and communications with customers.

Carsten Meywirth, a senior cybercrime official at Germany’s federal police, said the new Crimenetwork operation had failed and another administrator would have to answer before a German court. Prosecutors have also pointed to the March 2026 sentencing of the alleged operator of the previous Crimenetwork version, who received seven years and ten months in prison and was ordered to forfeit more than €10 million in criminal proceeds. That judgment is not final.