German Police Stop Attempt to Sell Stolen NATO-Style Rifles on Darknet

Almost all Darknet markets do have a list of prohibited items; firearms are a prime example of this. But that’s not the case with all markets. German police have arrested two Belarusians for stealing 40 Chinese-made NATO-style assault rifles from a freight train in Lower Saxony, intending to sell them on the darknet. The operation showcased significant security vulnerabilities in the international transportation of military-grade weapons and highlighted effective law enforcement tactics, including using a sniffer dog and a strategic trap to apprehend the suspects.

Key Insights

• Two Belarusians, aged 30 and 45, stole 40 Chinese-made assault rifles resembling American M16s from a freight train in Lower Saxony, Germany.
• The rifles were shipped by sea to Hamburg and were destined for a Bavarian warehouse.
• The theft occurred on March 16, under cover of darkness, while the train was momentarily unattended.
• The thieves buried the rifles near the train’s stop, disguising the site with dog feces.
• A German federal police dog located the cache by detecting gloves left by the thieves.
• Believing their plan was successful, the thieves left Germany but returned weeks later to retrieve the weapons.
• Police outsmarted them by replacing the rifles with empty boxes and re-burying them, leading to the thieves’ arrest upon their attempt to retrieve the cache.
• The thieves are currently in pre-trial detention and have refused to testify.

Two Belarusian suspects, who are aged 30 and 45, allegedly stole 40 Chinese-made assault rifles, which resembled American M16s, from a freight train during its travels through Lower Saxony, Germany. These rifles were initially shipped by sea to Hamburg and were en route to a Bavarian warehouse at the time of the planned robbery. 

The robbery happened at night when the train was, for a short moment, unguarded, allowing the suspects to strategically bury the rifles near the train’s stop, which ended up disguising the cache with dog feces to throw off the search mission. 

This robbery raised real security concerns about the transporting of military-grade weapons and showed all the different vulnerabilities in international shipping industries. 

German Police Tricked and Captured Thieves

German federal police used a trained sniffer dog to try and locate the hidden weapons, which ended up leading to the suspects’ arrest by smelling gloves left by the thieves at the scene, just showing both the struggles of keeping special cargo like military-grade weapons safe secure and the effectiveness of the law enforcement plans to fight against arms smuggling.

Although the criminals fled Germany while thinking that their plan was a success, police outmaneuvered them by replacing the rifles with empty boxes and re-burying the cache. The criminals then returned a few weeks later to collect the weapons for sale but were surprised to meet the law enforcement there and then both were arrested on the spot. 

Arms Trafficking Through The Darknet

While the duo are currently held in a pre-trial detention centre and, surprisingly, have refused to testify about the incident. The operation came to an end with the capture of the suspects after a very well-planned capture by the authorities. This case shows the challenges and threats posed by the illegal arms trade, particularly concerning the security risks associated with the transport and storage of military-grade weapons.

While it is not common for darknet markets to accept weapons of any kind, there are various that have opened doors to anything and everything. These aren’t the types of darknet markets you’ll see on Dread and similar forums, as they, too, refuse to promote anything they deem harmful to other humans.

A study by the RAND Corporation revealed significant insights into the illegal firearms trade on the dark web, emphasizing the role of the dark web as both an enabler for the circulation of illegal weapons already on the black market and as a potential source for the diversion of legally owned weapons. The research highlighted that the United States is the most common source country for these arms, comprising nearly 60 per cent of the firearms listings analyzed, with Europe being the largest market, generating revenues approximately five times higher than those in the U.S. Despite this, Denmark and Germany were noted as significant players, with Denmark having the second highest share of darknet firearms vendors. The dark web’s increasing role in facilitating access to better-performing and more recent firearms at prices comparable to or lower than the illegal street trade underscores the challenges it presents for law enforcement agencies and the necessity for effective regulatory frameworks and traditional policing to combat this issue.

The few websites that do account for arms make up for about $1.7 to $3.5 billion in volume from weaponry sales. That’s equivalent to about 10 to 20 per cent of the legal arms trade. The United States has the largest market for this in the long run; Germany and the countries surrounding it take second place. However, Europe had the largest market, generating revenues approximately five times higher than those in the U.S. This is according to a now outdated study that revealed insights into the illegal firearms trade on the darknet. According to RAND, the dark web is both an enabler for the circulation of illegal weapons already on the black market and a potential source for the diversion of legally owned weapons, one could expect darknet market weapon purchases have increased since the study that took place back in 2017.