By Veronika Schuerr
Published on
More than a year after authorities took down the darknet marketplace “Archetyp Market,” German prosecutors have charged the alleged operator of the platform, which was reportedly used for the large-scale trading of illegal substances.
The 31-year-old suspect is accused of having run the platform since July 2020, facilitating the sale of narcotics and other illegal substances.
Prosecutors allege that, from June 2022 onward, he operated the marketplace as part of an organized criminal group involving at least two other people, generating around €20 million in revenue.
At the time it was shut down in June 2025, Archetyp was the world’s largest darknet marketplace for illegal drugs.
The platform offered a wide range of substances, including cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, fentanyl, and crack cocaine. It also hosted listings for cannabis products, prescription drugs, performance-enhancing substances, and new psychoactive drugs.
Between November 2022 and June 2025 alone, around 2.3 million orders were processed on the platform, with an estimated turnover of about €330 million.
According to the indictment, the man set up and operated the platform’s technical infrastructure. He is also alleged to have determined the marketplace’s strategic direction and enabled vendors to trade in illegal goods.
More than 600,000 customer accounts were registered on the platform. The cryptocurrency Monero is said to have been used as a payment method, with the operator allegedly receiving a 5% commission on each sale.
The investigation took place as part of the international operation “Deep Sentinel”, which was coordinated by the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime and the Federal Criminal Police Office. German authorities were supported by Europol and Eurojust.
As part of the investigation, authorities seized suspected criminal proceeds, including cryptocurrency, cash, and luxury vehicles, with a combined value of nearly €10 million.
If convicted, the suspect faces up to 15 years in prison, in addition to the confiscation of the seized assets. He was arrested at his home in Barcelona in June 2025 by a special unit of the Spanish National Police and was later extradited to Germany.