The Czech police arrested the notorious Darknet marketplace, Tomas Jirikovsky, on Thursday. The Czech is suspected of involvement in a Bitcoin donation of converted $ 45 million to former Minister of Justice Pavel Blazek, a scandal that led earlier this year to his resignation.
According to chief officer of Justice Radim Dragoun, the raid took place in the context of a separate criminal procedure on millions of transfer. “The authorities were busy seizing people and goods,” said Dragoun. Local media report that Jirikovsky tried to escape through the roof of his home during the raid, but was arrested.
Arrest after spectacular flight attempt
Eyewitnesses, including his ex-wife, told that a neighbor raised the alarm about “the drama on the roof”. Police units eventually managed to get Jirikovsky off the roof safely and to take it for interrogation.
Jirikovsky is a Czech programmer and founder of Sheep Marketplace, a notorious illegal online marketplace for drugs, weapons and counterfeit goods. The site was launched in 2013 and earned it an estimated 680 BTC, worth around 100 dollars per coin at the time.
From cryptomilions to prison
After the closure of Sheep Marketplace in December 2013, Jirikovsky would have stolen another 841 BTC from users. With that, his property grew to at least 1,500 BTC. In 2017, the court of Brno sentenced him to nine years in prison for embezzlement, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. In 2021 he was released conditionally. His entire Bitcoin capacity has never been found.
The scandal around Minister Blazek came to light in May when it turned out that he had received a considerable Bitcoin donation from a convicted drug criminal. Research by Seznam Zprávy linked the transaction to Jirikovsky and to the Darknet marketplace Nucleus, who would have more than 5,000 BTC.
Blockchain analysis exposes millions of transfer
According to local reports, the donation of 468 BTC would have been intended to prevent a new prison sentence for Jirikovsky. Blockchain analysis company Arkham Intelligence discovered a transaction of $ 77.5 million from a nucleus wallet in March 2025-the first activity of the platform in nine years.
According to Lucien Bourdon, Bitcoin analyst with hardware wallet producer Trezor, the case shows that criminal money flows on the blockchain can always be traced.
“Large transactions can be traced forever. Imagine that every bank transaction of governments would be just as transparent. That is the accountability we have to go,” said Bourdon.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/tsjechische-politie-arresteert-darknet-oprichter-tomas-jirikovsky-in-45-miljoen-bitcoindonatiezaak/
