“It’s a booming business. Especially after the attacks, arms trade requires attention,” the prosecutor said. Police investigated the weapons trade online where they posed as suppliers for the 18-year-old. On December 21, authorities made the arrests. They prepared a setup wherein the two parties would meet and exchange money for a significant number of Glocks.
Some of the recent terror attacks are believed, by some government agencies, to have benefited from the darknet. Likely Bitcoin money laundering and weapons purchases. And the case of the Munich gunman set the darknet chain of events off, with regard to weapons at least.
They met in a McDonald’s in Bilzen where police quickly apprehended the defendants.
For the 18-year-old, the prosecutor pushed for a sentence of four years with deferral of one year. The prosecutor recommended that the father serve five years without a postponement. Sentencing will begin on June 19. In recent case, similar to this one, the defendants purchased deactivated weapons off the darknet. They each received five years in prison, despite significant differences the crimes.
“According to his lawyer, the teenager is a smart kid and a scout at that. But that is not the case,” prosecutor said. The defendant was not as naive and unknowing as his attorney made him out to be. Evidence from his computer revealed that, from an early age, he knew what he exactly what the darknet contained and that the darknet became an obsession of his.