The shift to digital trade was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns pushed many consumers and vendors towards online platforms. As these transactions are more insular and anonymous than in-person trade, it is more difficult to track user behaviour. However, new local patterns have emerged, along with unique risks that are less common in offline markets, such as exposure to cyber fraud or health concerns caused by the use of unregulated substances by unpractised users. Despite these risks, digital drug markets are often seen as a safer alternative to street dealing, attracting new users who might have avoided traditional markets due to fear of violence or law enforcement. Historically, Telegram has been a favored platform for selling drugs — due to its security and public perception of non-cooperation with law enforcement, as well as strict access controls for groups and channels.
The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can reach him by email at or on Twitter @ReidSouthwick. Liam says he takes drugs to medicate the effects of childhood trauma (he was beaten by one of his parents, he says) but that he’s seeking help. He says he’s motivated to stop using drugs because he’s enrolled in university this fall and doesn’t want drugs to get in the way of his career ambitions. The United States topped the list, with a quarter of vendors shipping from south of the border, followed by the United Kingdom, at nine per cent.
Interestingly, new sites get more hype, and it even becomes difficult to shut them down, as they have better security than the older ones. For every illegal drug, there is a combination of emojis that dealers and consumers use to evade detection on social media and messaging platforms. Grapes and baby bottles are the calling cards for codeine-containing cough syrup, or lean. The humble maple leaf, meanwhile, is the universal symbol for all drugs. According to court documents and statements made in court, Srinivasan and Ta used the “redlightlabs” darknet account to advertise and sell counterfeit M30 oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and other illicit drugs. Srinivasan also used the encrypted messaging application Wickr to communicate with and sell drugs to customers.
Treasury International Capital (TIC) System
For example, the Monero cryptocurrency, which uses a privacy-focused blockchain, has been popular on the Darkweb due to its greater anonymity than other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin 70. A blockchain explorer is a tool that allows users to view and analyze the transactions that have taken place on a particular blockchain 71. It can track funds’ movement and identify patterns or anomalies indicating illicit activity. Using private blockchains in agriculture is an interesting application of the technology 72. A private blockchain can create a secure and transparent record of transactions within a closed network, such as a network of farms or agricultural supply chain partners. Regarding profits, darknet vendors do not have to limit their trading to face-to-face interactions, and can instead sell drugs to a potentially worldwide customer base.
Silk Road Dark Web: History And How It Shaped Online Crime
“This includes licensed pharmacies, either in person or online, that require a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider.” The report highlights the growth of the shadow economy and new communication methods used by criminals, including proprietary Android-based mobile apps and the launch of an underground marketplace called Kraken. In the next step, a comparative analysis across different Russian regions was performed to understand the variations in drug trade patterns. This nonparametric approach was chosen because it can distinguish between linear and non-linear connections, giving the data a more nuanced perspective. In the next step, we have meticulously gathered official data on Russian regions from the Ministry of Health of Russia, police reports, court reports, and the prison system 27. Figure 1 presents the comprehensive cycle of collecting, modifying, and analyzing data at every step, ensuring the utmost accuracy and reliability.
How Much Is Stolen Data Sold For On Darknet Markets?
Notably, the 2023 Index also reveals a ‘strong and statistically significant’ correlation between the synthetic drugs trade and cyber-dependent crimes. According to the Index, the online purchasing of synthetic drugs may suggest the existence of an established cyber environment, which implies a heightened risk of cyber-dependent criminality. In addition, the surface web, including social media and e-commerce platforms, increasingly offers criminals – particularly in the illicit drug trade – a vast customer base, ease of use and a measure of anonymity.
- If you’ve ever thought about purchasing drugs on the dark web, be aware of the risks.
- People living in authoritarian regimes may use it to avoid detection while some access it to avoid having their internet use tracked.
- While the purity of coke and heroin that she bought varied somewhat, it was much easier to avoid fentanyl.
- “There’s a shift from the old way of the drug trade to more of a modern, technological and digital era of selling drugs.”
- To access the darknet, you will need to download and install special software, such as the Tor browser.
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
She also found that the psychedelics were virtually always of high quality. Terence decided to begin buying online because—as a mid-career professional and father from Minnesota, now in his late 30s—he no longer has the connections that he did when he was formerly addicted to heroin. He wanted to be able to buy high-quality psychedelics from a trusted, reliable source and the dark web seemed like the best place to do so. Marie had never purchased drugs in the conventional way—and still hasn’t. I, for one, have basically given up on Washington, DC’s street “heroin.” Distressingly, it’s mostly oddly colored fentanyl. The vast majority of “down,” as they call the dreary, unpleasant stuff, doesn’t even contain heroin.
The Analysis Steps
The platform’s activity has increased significantly over the past year, indicating its growing influence and market share in the underground economy. STYX Market focuses specifically on financial fraud, making it a go-to destination for cybercriminals engaged in this activity. Valued at approximately $15 million, Abacus Market is one of the most lucrative platforms in the dark web ecosystem. In 2024, the platform grew significantly in popularity, partly because of its strategic acquisition of users from a number of recently shut-down marketplaces, such as AlphaBay and Incognito Market, which had recently closed their doors.
Exodus Market – A Genesis Market Alternative
The last several years’ examples include Silk Road, AlphaBay, Wall Street Market, and Hydra, most recently. Historically, as law enforcement closed each dominant marketplace, a new leader emerged. We can see this pattern on the chart below, which shows the level of market share controlled by the dominant market of each epoch. The recovery pattern is fairly consistent until the Hydra Marketplace closure, after which no dominant darknet market emerged. You don’t know how good an illegal drug is until you consume it, and you can’t turn to the law to enforce agreements, return a substandard product, or complain to your dealer if he tries to rob you. That prevents price discovery and risk compensation, key features of a well-functioning market.
What Is The Dark Web, How Does It Work And Why Is It Such A Safe Haven For Criminals?
- Among the various illicit digital markets, the drug trade is one of the most prominent.
- The supply of cannabis is about 10 times higher than opiates in terms of weight on the market.
- There is no way to fix this because Hydra was shut down in 2022, and new marketplaces were established.
- These skills can include hacking, programming, cybersecurity, and other technical expertise.
- It is a hub for financial cybercrime and offers a wide range of illicit services and stolen data that cater to sophisticated cybercriminals.
Due to these cyber battles, several actors have moved from the now-closed Hydra to new marketplaces and have started leveraging alternative digital channels, including customized mobile apps and instant messengers like Telegram. The patterns revealed in this analysis are not static; they can shift over time due to changes in drug supply, law enforcement efforts, and societal attitudes. Continued monitoring is essential to ensure drug policies remain responsive to the current situation. Advanced data visualization techniques, such as interactive maps and correlation matrices, depict complex relationships between the darknet drug trade and health outcomes. We took only “zakladka” with a small weight of substances ready for sale (5 g) because larger supplies can be resold on the same Hydra marketplace by other drug dealers so that they could be counted twice. California man and his alleged accomplice from Texas are charged in selling drugs “through dark net and encrypted messaging applications”, the US Department of Justice reported in their Friday news release (December 16, 2022).
It is also reliant on the level of internet access in different regions. The ubiquity of the internet has transformed black markets, with shadowy street transactions now taking place in sophisticated digital marketplaces. According to Europol’s 2025 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment report, nearly all forms of serious and organized crime now have a digital footprint. Criminals are leveraging the online domain to increase efficiency and maintain anonymity, and darknet markets are generating US$5–7.5 million in daily revenue. And the fragmentation of illicit markets, particularly in drug sales, signals a shift toward decentralization — with criminal enterprises moving away from traditional darknet marketplaces toward more agile and resilient platforms. This shift presents both new challenges and opportunities for disruption.
Another way the researchers measured the resiliency of the Cryptomarket network was by the number of components – a group of buyers and sellers who are connected to each other, but separated from all other groups. The fact that most Cryptomarket buyers purchased only from one seller means that the overall network is not very resilient and could be disrupted relatively easily by taking out a few of the most prolific vendors. “It’s probably less risky to use a reputable darknet website than buying drugs from someone off of Instagram because of the seller rating systems in place,” says Rachel Clark, programs and communications coordinator at Dance Safe. The clearweb doesn’t have a comparable review system, so it’s a lot harder to vet who’s legit.
The platform’s popularity continues to grow, attracting both new and returning customers. So, their plan is to buy a lot of this cheap weed and sell it to people they trust, who are social and won’t talk, for $1,600 per pound. The people who do the shipping by themselves, could be worried that if they sent out packages and the FBI found them, the FBI would see their fingerprints. Honestly, this is not a problem as if they touch a box at the post office, they can still deny it. However, if their fingerprints are on the plastic that seals the drugs or inside the box, it’s a different story. So, personally, the DNM drug vendors seal the package while wearing latex gloves and regularly bleach the area to remove any DNA.
