Porsche 911 Seized in Austrian Darkweb Investigation

An investigation into an alleged darkweb vendor in Germany resulted in the seizure of a Porsche 911 and a follow-up investigation into 120 customers.

Earlier this year, the State Criminal Police Office in Vienna identified a 39-year-old darkweb vendor living in Germany. The Vienna public prosecutor’s office ordered the alleged vendor’s arrest and subsequent incarceration at the Josefstadt prison in Vienna. Later, the prosecutor’s office ordered the seizure of the suspect’s Porsche 911 (the vehicle, according to a news outlet, is rare).

Between early 2018 and his arrest in early 2020, the suspected drug vendor earned more than 450,000 euros, according to investigators. During the execution of a search warrant at the suspect’s apartment, the police found cannabis, psychedelic mushrooms, heroin, and cocaine. The drugs had a combined weight of only two kilograms. They also found 120 pieces of mail containing assorted illegal substances.

The police have investigated 120 of the vendor’s suspected customers as of September 13, 2020. The number of suspected customers under investigation matches the number of letters seized by police, indicating that the police might not have succeeded in accessing the suspect’s vendor accounts (or that no physical or digital records existed aside from the seized letters). According to Heute, the suspect has not yet made any statements.

So far, the investigation into the suspect’s customers has resulted in three arrests:

• a 33-year-old Austrian from the 10th District
• a 41-year-old Serb from the 10th District
• a 35-year-old Austrian from the 3rd District

The State Criminal Police Office is currently prioritizing the investigation of so-called “sub-dealers” or customers who purchased drugs to resell them either locally or through the internet.

Europol is credited for assisting in the investigation that resulted in three arrests in over six months.