German law enforcement has dismantled the relaunched version of the criminal online marketplace "Crimenetwork" and arrested its alleged operator on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office's cybercrime unit (ZIT) announced on May 8, 2026.
The suspect, a 35-year-old German citizen, was detained at his Mallorca residence by a special unit of the Spanish National Police on the basis of a European arrest warrant. According to investigators, the man rebuilt an entirely new technical infrastructure under the same "Crimenetwork" name within days of the December 2024 takedown of the original platform and the arrest of its previous administrator. Spanish authorities executed two European arrest warrants against him, covering allegations of organized commercial fraud as well as the operation of a criminal trading platform on the darknet, and he is reportedly being held in Spanish extradition custody.
‼️ German Authorities Shut Down Revived "Crimenetwork" Platform, Arrest Operator on Mallorcahttps://t.co/7Yh4kKsfhU
— Dark Web Informer (@DarkWebInformer) May 10, 2026
German law enforcement has dismantled the relaunched version of the criminal online marketplace "Crimenetwork" and arrested its alleged operator on the Spanish… pic.twitter.com/60XzL0jRJh
The reconstituted marketplace had grown into a substantial illicit operation before being shuttered. According to police, the platform most recently counted more than 22,000 users and over 100 sellers, who traded in stolen data, drugs, and forged documents. Users settled transactions in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero, and evidence seized during the operation points to platform revenues exceeding 3.6 million euros, with the operator collecting commissions on sales while sellers paid monthly fees for advertising and sales licenses.
Authorities provisionally secured assets of roughly 194,000 euros directly tied to "Crimenetwork" and obtained extensive user and transaction data expected to fuel further investigations. The case follows the recent sentencing of the original platform's administrator: in March 2026, the Gießen Regional Court handed down a prison term of seven years and ten months and ordered the confiscation of more than ten million euros in criminal proceeds, though the verdict is not yet final.
BKA Cybercrime division head Carsten Meywirth framed the action bluntly, saying the relaunch of Crimenetwork had failed and that another administrator would now have to answer to a German court, a reminder, he said, that "cybercrime does not pay."
