German police bust major online criminal marketplace, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

Duesseldorf police said the swoop took place in Germany and abroad on Thursday evening, adding that a special task force had for years collected evidence against the "Crimemarket" online trading platform.

The police told AFP several arrests were made and sweeping searches conducted as part of a "coordinated action", but declined to give further details ahead of a planned press conference at 1300 GMT.

The "Crimemarket" website offered drugs for sale as well as criminal services and "detailed instructions for serious crimes", Duesseldorf police said.

They described the website as "the largest German-language criminal trading platform on the internet".

The police operation targeted not only the operators of the site but also the sellers and buyers, the statement added.