The story of Pygmalion could be a classic drug-trafficking crime story. She talks about couriers who transported goods from the Netherlands to Germany for a small fee. About the packers who measured and sent heroin, cocaine and MDMA. The German "Schigel" writes about web designers who set up shops on the Darknet.
One gram of crystal meth for 40 euros was advertised with the words:
"High potential for addiction and adverse long-term health effects are possible, but hey, treat yourself!🥳 You only live once!☝️".
Photo: WikimediaEcstasy ready for sale
The drug lord is a woman.
Every story about drugs has a boss, "Spiegel" continues. In this case, he is known as Pygmalion, like the artist from ancient mythology who falls in love with a statue of his own making. However, the suspected boss in this story is a rare case: there are many indications that this Pygmalion is actually a woman.
Prosecutors from the Main Public Prosecutor's Office in Bamberg start from the assumption that 33-year-old Medina H. is hiding behind this pseudonym. They are conducting the investigation, among other things, on the basis of Article 30a, paragraph 1 of the Law on Narcotic Drugs: unauthorized organized trade in narcotics in small quantities. Since the end of June, Medina H. has been in front of the Land Court in Bamberg.
If the investigators are right, this would be an exceptional case: According to official police crime statistics for 2025, women make up only about 10 to 12 percent of drug-trafficking suspects. They mostly appeared as couriers or packers.
According to a Spiegel investigation, Medina H. could be the first woman in Germany to lead an international drug trafficking gang.
Darknet stores
The stores, according to the charges, were hidden on the Darknet - a part of the Internet that cannot be found through traditional search engines and web browsers and where communication is encrypted. Between October 2023 and April 2025, Medina H. is suspected of selling drugs in more than 8.500 cases through various Darknet markets, messaging applications such as Telegram, as well as through her own online stores. Among the goods were more than six kilograms of ketamine, 4.650 sheets of LSD and about 26 kilograms of speed. It is estimated that it achieved a turnover of at least 730.000 euros.
Photo: Gerd Altmann/PixabayThe Darknet is a convenient platform for drug trafficking
On the first day of the trial, Medina H. said she "maintained the Pygmalion website" and "partially entered products" and "creative writing." In "some cases" she "matched customers, received payments and passed them on."
However, he rejects parts of the accusation, claims that it is not true that she was the leader of the gang, and that, "with a few exceptions", she had nothing to do with the procurement of narcotics. Selling under the pseudonym Pygmalion in any case continued even after her arrest.
Who is Medina H.?
Medina H. was born in 1992 in a large Russian city in Siberia, about 1700 kilometers from Moscow. She came to Germany with her family as a child. Apparently, she first lived in North Rhine-Westphalia, and traces lead to Bochum, Dusseldorf and Leverkusen.
There are indications that she once worked as an insurance broker. According to data from a business platform, she enrolled in chemistry studies at the age of 27. A profile on the Russian social network OK (Odnoklasniki) under her name and date of birth appears to have been inactive since 2015.
Cocaine, MDMA, heroin and Viagra
Investigators assume that in August 2023 at the latest, Medina H. teamed up with her then-partner Alain B, as well as ex-boyfriend Sebastian H. Under the name "Pygmalion," they offered, among other things, cocaine, MDMA, heroin, and the potency pill Viagra on Darknet markets, messaging applications, and their own online stores.
Profile Pygmalion has been under the surveillance of the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) since October 2023. A year earlier, in October 2022, the BKA arrested a person suspected of running Germany's largest Darknet forum Germany in the Deep Web. One of the two men was subsequently named Pygmalion published a digital farewell greeting - and thus attracted the attention of investigators.
The trio was therefore exposed after a very short time. In March 2024, the court in Bielefeld sentenced Allen B. to about six years and Sebastian H. to five years in prison, "Spiegel" writes. Medina H. was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence, which was replaced by a suspended sentence, for assisting in the unauthorized trade in narcotics in a "considerable amount".
While the men had to go to prison, Medina H. remained free. However, instead of serving a suspended sentence, she continued to run the business, according to the charges.
Source: Der Spiegel
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