Slovenia busts "dark web" of arms dealers

Two Slovenians were found to have illegally sold weapons through the "dark web", a secretive portion of the web accessible only with special software, Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reported on Tuesday citing Ljubljana police.

A 39-year-old man and his 33-year-old accomplice, both security guards, are believed to have made about 15,000 euros in a year by selling illicit arms via the "dark web", the report said.

The Ljubljana police found that they made illegal profits by selling at least two Kalashnikov rifles with rounds, a Zagi automatic rifle and large quantities of ammunition.

The weapons were believed to be shipped to countries including France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain, Stojan Belsak, head of the organised crime unit at Ljubljana police told the local press on Tuesday.

In return, the suspects received payment in bitcoin, which they exchanged into euros, the STA report said adding that a house search turned up counterfeited euros, a large stash of illicit arms, as well as cash and gold worth several thousand euros.

The two suspects have been charged with 11 counts of illegal possession and distribution of weapons and have been remanded in custody, according to the police. Endit