Team accused of turning Cold War bunker into darkweb empire appear in court

A team of cyber experts appeared in court on Monday charged with enabling more than 249,000 crimes from a renovated, five-storey deep Cold War bunker in Germany. 

The eight suspected criminals have been accused by German prosecutors of hosting illegal drug marketplaces as well as websites which sold child pornography, counterfeit money and cyberattacks for hire.

The “Cyberbunker” hosting service was operated in a former Nato bunker on the outskirts of the German town of Traben-Trarbach from the end of 2013.

German police released photographs taken inside the 'Cyberbunker' showing the servers installed inside

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Prosecutors allege that the bunker in Traben-Trarbach, which has a population of less than 6,000 people, was used to host thousands of websites which facilitated drug deals worth millions of pounds.

Four Dutch, three German and one Bulgarian suspect ranging from the ages of 20 to 60 are standing trial after German police raided the bunker last year.

The main organiser of the bunker is alleged to be a 60-year-old Dutch man who acquired the site in 2013. He has denied knowledge of the websites operating on the bunker’s servers.

Racks of servers were installed on several levels of the bunker complex

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German police seized more than 200 servers and $41m (£32m) of funds when they raided the bunker complex last September.

Prior to it being used as a server-farm, the bunker was the headquarters of the Bundeswehr’s meteorological division and used by up to 350 employees. 

One of the desks used by employees inside the 'Cyberbunker' hosting complex in Germany

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Prosecutors have alleged that the servers were used “exclusively for illegal purposes.” The Cyberbunker has been accused of operating as a “bulletproof” hosting provider, a service popular among criminals as hosts allow their customers to operate illegal websites without vetting their contents.

An aerial view of the above-ground parts of the bunker complex

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Many illegal marketplaces offering banned goods operate on the so-called darknet, a part of the internet which is not accessible through normal web browsers. 

People can download specialist software to access these websites and typically make their purchases anonymously using cryptocurrency.

Sites linked to the Cyberbunker hosting facility include Cannabis Road, Orange Chemicals, and Wall Street Market.

The trial is expected to continue until the end of 2021.