Dutch police have confirmed that at least seven contract killings have been ordered in the Netherlands on a dark website offering non-existent hitmen for hire.
In four of the cases under investigation the requested killings were paid for. However, as far as police are aware, no murders were carried out.
In a further seven cases, inquiries were made but never confirmed by the “purchaser”.
Hacked online data obtained by detectives revealed that the killings were ordered between 2016 and 2022 – although they say the website still exists under a number of names.
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There was no organised crime involvement. The hits were all ordered by apparently ordinary people and usually targeted others they knew personally.
Although, they now believe this particular gun-for-hire offer was a moneymaking scam, police are working to track down those who commissioned the killings, using bitcoin transactions and chat logs to trace their identities.
They typically paid between €1,000 and €10,000 for the killing – and frequently went into detail about how they wanted it to be carried out.
One man in The Hague has already been convicted. Imran M (42) twice attempted to have his former wife, the mother of his two children, killed after a contentious divorce.
He paid €2,000 in advance, as well as providing personal information, including the location of the hospital where she worked as a nurse, and her car registration.
He described his former wife as “an easy target” – and said he was willing to pay a bonus “if it happens before next weekend”.
“We have already informed several of the intended victims and are investigating several others, but it takes time”, said police spokesperson, Thomas Aling.
“Even if it wasn’t carried out, commissioning a killing is a criminal offence that always has consequences for the target.”
Imran M’s former wife and two children had to go into hiding for six months.
Another target said: “I don’t know who was behind it. I just don’t want to go outside any more”.
