German police seized the darkish net store Pygmalion, getting access to buyer information linked to over 7,000 drug orders in a serious investigation.
A serious darkish net drug operation and market working beneath the identify “Pygmalion” has been disrupted by German regulation enforcement, with its infrastructure dismantled and a number of other people arrested following a months-long investigation.
The Bavarian State Felony Police Workplace (BLKA), working with the Central Workplace for the Prosecution of Cybercrime (ZCB) and backed by the Federal Felony Police Workplace (BKA), seized a number of servers and onion domains utilized by the seller.
The seized darkish net domains now show a takedown discover from authorities, informing guests that the content material has been confiscated. “This legal content material has been seized by the Federal Felony Police Workplace (BKA) on behalf of the Bavarian Central Workplace for the Prosecution of Cybercrime (ZCB),“ the seizure discover states.
Over 7,000 Orders Tracked
In response to a press launch from the BLKA printed on 24 April 2025, investigators discovered an in depth trove of information, together with buyer information and order histories courting again to April 2024. Preliminary forensic evaluation revealed that the operators maintained exact logs overlaying not less than 7,250 particular person transactions.
The dimensions of the operation got here to gentle by means of information collected throughout prior investigations by the Thuringia State Felony Police Workplace. As soon as connections had been established between exercise in Bavaria, Thuringia, and North Rhine-Westphalia, authorities had been capable of map out an inner construction that included packers, shippers, and coordinators.
Arrests and Large Drug Seizure
On February 7, 2025, police arrested 4 people, three males and one lady, aged from 24 to 56. All are suspected of being a part of a gaggle liable for packaging and transport narcotics to consumers across the globe. The arrests befell within the Eichstätt district and the city of Neuburg an der Donau.
Throughout coordinated raids at 5 properties, officers seized over 53 kilograms of illicit substances together with methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. Additionally recovered had been roughly 150,000 tablets regulated beneath Germany’s Medicines Act.
Most of the medication had been already portioned into hundreds of vacuum-sealed luggage, prepared for distribution. Officers estimate the retail worth of the confiscated narcotics to be within the low seven-figure euro vary.
Vendor Assertion: “Lay Low”
Within the aftermath of the takedown, a Pastebin message attributed to the seller circulated through a redirect from the now-defunct Pygmalion darknet store. It reads:
“You’ve already heard from the BKA: Our store has been seized. Usually, this wouldn’t be doable, since we’re behind Tor—however Pygmalion had entry to the server. This implies it’s secure to imagine that buyer information is now within the arms of the authorities.
To all who’ve ordered since roughly April 2024:
- Clear your home as quickly as doable.
- Preserve your toes nonetheless.
We don’t plan on stopping, despite the fact that this was an enormous blow for all of us.”
The message seems to substantiate that the operational safety of {the marketplace} was compromised internally, and it means that clients could also be liable to identification.
Authorities Warn Patrons
Legislation enforcement has outlined that on-line drug purchases, whether or not on the clear net or through darkish net companies, are topic to legal prosecution. Opposite to the beliefs held by many customers of such platforms, investigators steadily recuperate information logs, and the belief of anonymity typically proves false.
Officers emphasised that on-line traces left by orders can be utilized to determine consumers lengthy after transactions happen. The dimensions of the seized information gives additional alternatives for ongoing investigations.
The takedown and identification of consumers is just like the Hansa darkish net market shutdown in 2018, when authorities not solely dismantled one of many largest identified cybercrime markets on the time but in addition publicly launched data on recognized, lively, and arrested Hansa distributors and consumers.
Moreover, Pygmalion’s takedown got here a month after German police seized the favored darkish net market Nemesis Market. The platform facilitated the sale of unlawful medication, stolen information, and cybercrime companies, together with ransomware. The shutdown was introduced by German police on 21 March 2025.
Nonetheless, these arrested over their actions on Pygmalion face prices associated to organized trafficking of huge portions of managed substances. Convictions beneath such offences may carry sentences of 5 to fifteen years in jail, relying on the severity and degree of involvement.
The seized onion addresses embrace:
http://pygmaliop3prfrktd6a6ezi3oqehu5ysja37vudycvkqngzncnvgw5qd.onion
http://pygmaliooo4dwxt4xdvrglqsgvdjnj3ymjtaffsavnufb6e2vz726wid.onion
