Dutch Darknet Dealer Sent to 4 Years in Prison For Selling Drugs & Money Laundering

The District Court of Oost-Brabant sentenced a 35 year old man from Eindhoven to 4 years in prison. For years he was involved in drug trafficking from his home. He then washed the money he was making using different methods.

The police found large quantities of soft and hard drugs in the defendant’s house last March. Moreover, evidence was found that he was also guilty of trafficking these drugs. Between August 2014 and March 2019, the defendant had using the alias “Godfather” on undisclosed darknet markets, made drug deals on the Dark Web, packaged the drugs, and then sent them as postal packages all over the world. He was paid in bitcoins. He converted some of the bitcoins into cashless money and transferred them to his bank account and to a so-called catcher’s account. He withdrew some of the money he had deposited and spent it on, among other things, fixed charges and groceries.

The public prosecutor also sued the man for for forgeing/possessing 646 100-euro notes found in his home. But according to the court, there is no evidence that the defendant knew that the notes were counterfeit.

According to the court, a four-year prison sentence is appropriate. In determining this punishment, the court takes into account the fact that drugs cause damage to the health of users. In addition, drug users often engage in theft or other criminal behaviour in order to pay for their use. This leads to damage and inconvenience. In addition, the production and trafficking of drugs is often accompanied by various forms of serious crime.

It should also be kept in mind that money laundering can lead to disruption of economic and financial transactions. By mixing illegal money with legal money flows, the integrity of the financial and economic system is seriously damaged. Finally, the court takes account of the fact that the accused had previously been convicted of a drug offense, but that this apparently did not prevent him from repeating his mistake.

The suspect’s name and identity is kept secret from news outlets due to dutch privacy law.