German police shut down darknet marketplace Kingdom Market

The Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany изъяли servers of the darknet marketplace Kingdom Market that were located in several countries and halted its operations.

During the investigation, law enforcement authorities coordinated with colleagues in the United States, Switzerland, Moldova, and Ukraine.

According to case materials, Kingdom Market had operated since March 2021, selling drugs, malware, illicit services and forged documents.

Authorities estimate the total catalogue exceeded 42,000 items. The site registered tens of thousands of customers and several hundred seller accounts.

For payments, users used the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, and Zcash. Operators received a 3% commission as a fee for processing illegal sales.

As of now, officially подтвержден only one arrest connected with this operation. On December 15, in the United States, a Slovak citizen Alan Bill, known by the aliases Vend0r or KingdomOfficial, was arrested.

He reportedly held the position of administrator of Kingdom Market and acted as moderator of the marketplace on Reddit. He has been charged with commercial management of an illicit online marketplace and illegal distribution of drugs.

Law enforcement is now seeking other individuals involved in the darknet marketplace’s activities.

In November, law enforcement in the Netherlands and Finland confiscated the servers of the cryptocurrency mixer Sinbad.io. The tool was later added to the U.S. sanctions list for laundering assets of the North Korean Lazarus group.