Police in the Netherlands say they have broken up a gang which was trading large volumes of illegal drugs on the dark web all over the world.

The three men and one woman were arrested in Amsterdam and Werkendam earlier this week and will appear before remand judges on Friday.

Three of those arrested were online processing orders at the time of their arrest. The fourth was producing what the police said were packaging materials using 3D printers when she was picked up.

The case is a follow up on the dismantling of a dark web drugs network known as Hansa last year, police said. One of the seller accounts, named Doug Hefferman, was based in the Netherlands and appeared to be responsible for selling cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs.

The four people arrested on Tuesday are said to be the operators behind that name and a string of others which moved to a new dark web market place named Dream Market when Hansa was shut down.

Disguise

They are suspected of sending tens of thousands of packets of drugs all over the world disguised as makeup, print cartridges and computer games.

The related administration system includes the addresses of potentially thousands of buyers, the police statement said. Police also confiscated three cars, a considerable amount of drugs, a gun and bitcoin receipts.

Doug Hefferman is the main character from the American comedy The King of Queens who is a delivery worker.