We have heard about Dark Web marketplace asking for funds to assassinate Donald Trump and Mike Pence – We have also heard about criminals offering physical revenge services but online sex trade through Dark Web? Well, Lukasz Pawel Herba, a Polish citizen, has been arrested for kidnapping a 20-year-old British woman in Italy and selling her online in an auction.
Lukasz Pawel Herba’s mugshot (Polizia di Stato)
The woman who is a model by profession was apparently traveling to Milan after her agent sent her for a photoshoot but upon arrival, she was drugged, kidnapped, handcuffed and held a hostage in a Milan apartment.
Simulation of the kidnapping (Polizia di Stato)
In an official statement released by Milan police “Attacked, drugged, handcuffed and closed inside a suitcase, that’s how a 20-year-old English model was kidnapped on July 11 in Milan to be sold to the best offer on pornography sites.”
Herba who lives in the United Kingdom then demanded a sum of $300,000 (€254,796) from the woman’s agent and threatened to sell her on the Internet if his demands were not met, Milan police said on Saturday. At the same time, he published an advertisement on an unknown Dark Web marketplace to sell the woman through “Black Death.”
Although, there is limited information about the group it is known that Black Death operates on Dark Web and deals in kidnapping women, selling illegal drugs, weapons and hire assassins. Europol previously investigated the group.
As for the kidnapper, he was arrested while he was dropping the woman outside the British consulate in Milan. She was set free after Herba discovered that she is a mother of a child, which, according to “rules” does not suit the sex trade market.
Fake ID card used by Herba ((Polizia di Stato)
The Corriere Della Sera newspaper, Herba told the woman that “You have a two-year-old child and our rules exclude mothers.”
Experts also found a contract from the kidnapper’s computer in which he demanded $50,000 (€42466) and threatened to kill the woman if she contacted the police about her kidnapping. “You are being released with a warning. You are certainly aware of your value on human slavery market. A mistake was made by capturing you,” stated a document seen by the Telegraph.
The kidnapper demanded that the ransom payment should be paid in Bitcoin, a kind digital currency almost impossible to trace.
“You have agreed to pay outstanding costs of your release of $50,000. We expect that money to be paid in Bitcoin within one month. Any sort of disobedience will result in your elimination. “You have been treated fairly with respect, and we expect to hear the same about us in return.”
The kidnapping took place on 11th July and freed on 17th July, but the good news is that the woman is now safe.
It was just a couple of weeks ago when European law enforcement authorities shut down AlphaBay and Hanse, two of the most popular Dark Web market places. Both markets dealt with selling physical revenge services, drugs, weapons, and databases. Now, Italian police and Europol are investigating the activities of Black Death on Dark Web.
