Former police officer jailed for darknet arms dealing

Police searched the suspect’s home and found a weapons cache so large that a back-up van had to be called to transport it all Keystone / Adrien Perritaz

The Federal Criminal Court has given the former logistics chief of the Schwyz cantonal police a 28-month suspended prison sentence for the illegal sale of weapons and ammunition. Eight months of this must be served.

He must also pay a conditional fine of CHF5,400 ($5,880), the court said on Thursday.

The court found the man guilty of multiple commercial violations of the weapons law, of attempting to do so and of other offences. The man had ordered ammunition for himself at the expense of his employer and sold weapons via the darknet, a part of the internet hidden from search engines and often used for illicit activities. 

Over a period of nine years the defendant had “offended continuously” and caused financial damage to his employer worth CHF181,600, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona ruled.

However, even worse in the court’s opinion was that the accused had not only abused his position, but also exploited the trust of his superiors and damaged the reputation of the Schwyz cantonal police. He had also used insider knowledge and thus violated official secrecy on several occasions.

The discovery was the result of an investigation launched in 2013 from southern Germany, where police looked into arms trade over the darknet. In February 2018 the Swiss Federal Office of Police searched the suspect’s home and found a weapons cache so large that a back-up van had to be called to transport it all.