The transition from retail to online e-commerce has fundamentally transformed how companies operate. This shift has also significantly impacted the practices of drug dealers and users. Imagine ordering a kilo of cocaine with the same ease as purchasing a candle set on Amazon. For countless dealers and users worldwide, the dynamics of the illicit narcotics market have shifted from criminality to convenience.
Increasingly, suppliers and customers are turning to the Dark Web to buy and sell illegal drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and a variety of other illicit goods and services. For law enforcement, tackling this criminal activity feels like a game of whack-a-mole—every time one illegal marketplace is shut down, another emerges. If you are just beginning to explore the murky world of the Dark Web, here are some key terms and definitions to help you understand it better.
Deep Web
The Deep Web refers to a segment of the internet that remains concealed from standard search engines due to encryption. A significant portion of the Deep Web consists of academic articles, medical data, and other restricted information. However, nestled within the Deep Web is the dark web, which is primarily associated with illicit criminal activities.
Dark Web
Referred to as the dark net or dark web, this comprises online networks that are not indexed by search engines and can only be accessed through specialized authorization, software, and configurations. Due to its more challenging accessibility and complete anonymity, the dark web is frequently utilized for black market activities, including the trade of narcotics, weapons, human trafficking, and piracy.
TOR (The Onion Router)
Users access the dark web not through conventional search engines but via specialized browsers and software that mask IP addresses, making it difficult to trace users. TOR is a torrent-based operating system that provides complete encryption and anonymity, enabling users to browse the dark web without revealing their identities. A torrent is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing, facilitating the distribution of various types of data and electronic files across the internet.
Silk Road
Before its shutdown, the Silk Road was one of the largest dark web marketplaces for the illegal distribution of drugs globally. Since then, it has been succeeded by several competing vendor sites that function similarly to third-party marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. On these platforms, customers can find not only drugs and weapons but also counterfeit goods, intellectual property, and even services related to human trafficking. Currently, major players on the dark web include Dream Market, TradeRoute, and Valhalla Market.
Cryptocurrencies
Users of the dark web employ TOR to protect their identities and VPNs to establish a secure tunnel for sending and receiving data across networks. The safest method for making payments on the dark web is through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Online marketplaces often function as escrow services, holding a buyer’s payment until the product is received before releasing the funds to the seller.
Once purchased, drugs are typically shipped to customers via mail, often using government-operated postal services. Anonymizing mail services is extremely challenging, and since online drug dealers have to rely on traditional shipping methods, this represents a significant vulnerability that law enforcement can exploit to track them down. Drugs are usually concealed within packages and often hidden among counterfeit items to further confuse law enforcement efforts.
Dream Market
Similar to the Silk Road, Dream Market stands out as one of the largest vendors of illegal drugs on the dark web. Users can also find a variety of other products, including designer clothing, counterfeit currency, and stolen online banking information. The ease of setting up an account raises concerns among authorities, as the dark web may have facilitated increased addiction, particularly for individuals who might not have engaged in this criminal marketplace without the anonymity it offers.
However, engaging in criminal activities on the dark web carries significant personal risks. Packages containing illicit narcotics include shipping addresses and personal information. In 2017, Dutch authorities took control of a popular marketplace and continued operating it for a month, capturing unsuspecting buyers and sellers. Law enforcement indicates that major global dark net markets are currently based in China and South America.
A study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy examined lab results from drug seizures related to dark web purchases made by the Spanish government between 2014 and 2015. The findings revealed that over 90% of samples contained the drugs they were advertised as, with many exhibiting high purity levels.
Researchers caution that these results may be more of an exception rather than a reflection of the average shipments. While uncertainty surrounds any drug market, there has been insufficient research into the actual composition of drug shipments.
AlphaBay was once a strong competitor of Dream Market, allegedly established by a Canadian and hosting around 2,200 vendors with approximately 12,000 drug listings at its peak. Before its shutdown in 2017, AlphaBay was actively shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products to customers in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Research by Meropi Tzanetakis from the University of Oslo suggests that most users on dark web markets are men in their early to mid-20s, many of whom are either employed or studying at the post-secondary level. While they are primarily occasional or recreational drug users or dealers, there are also numerous individuals who may be struggling with serious undiagnosed addictions.
The RAND Corporation Online Drug Analysis
According to RAND Research, illegal drug transactions on the dark web have more than tripled since 2013, with revenues more than doubling. The organization conducted an extensive study of the dark web to analyze the types of drugs, the scale of the drug trade, and the characteristics of the vendors and buyers involved in this marketplace. Here are their findings:
Dark Web Drug Dealers Ban Fentanyl
Major suppliers on the dark web have begun to ban the synthetic opioid fentanyl due to its dangerous and lethal nature. Fentanyl has been classified alongside mass-casualty firearms and explosives as a commodity too risky to trade. This classification may be a prudent business move, as the high fatality rate could impact profits and draw increased police scrutiny.
Vince O’Brien, a member of the National Crime Agency, states that suppliers have reclassified fentanyl as a business decision. He explains, “If they’ve got people selling very high-risk commodities, then it’s going to increase the risk to them. There are marketplaces that will not accept listings for weapons and explosives—those are the ones that will not accept listings for fentanyl. Clearly, law enforcement would prioritize the supply of weapons, explosives, and fentanyl over, for example, Class C drugs—and that might well be why they do this.”
The pipeline of fentanyl entering the U.S. often results in fatal overdoses. The drug takes a long and complicated journey, sometimes passing through Mexico, and Canada, or directly entering the U.S. to reach unsuspecting users who inject and overdose. So, where does fentanyl originate, and how can it be stopped?
Most of the fentanyl in the U.S. is manufactured in China, where it is either assembled and shipped or where precursor materials are gathered and sent to Mexico for production in cartel labs. In some instances, the drug is heavily diluted with fillers and sold as cocaine, heroin, or meth, or it is marketed in pill form as oxycodone. Pure fentanyl may also be mixed with other drugs to enhance potency.
Fentanyl and its analogs are easily hidden in packages sent through the mail, allowing them to go unnoticed until they arrive in the mailboxes of buyers in the United States. These buyers often source small quantities through dark web transactions from operations in China. In some cases, fentanyl is shipped from China to Mexico for further processing before being smuggled back into the U.S.
Once in Mexico, the product is prepared for smuggling across the border at San Diego and other southwestern entry points. Most fentanyl arriving from Mexico is less potent and often mixed with other substances compared to those shipped directly from China. In some cases, fentanyl is shipped from China to Canada, where it is either smuggled across the border or mailed into the U.S.
How Drugs Enter the United States
The vast majority of drugs illegally entering the U.S. are not transported by migrants crossing the border. In fact, most drugs are smuggled through legal ports of entry in transportation vehicles, which accounts for the significant quantities found on the streets. According to the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary from the DEA:
“Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) transport the majority of their drugs over the Southwest Border through ports of entry (POEs) using passenger vehicles or tractor trailers. The drugs are typically concealed in hidden compartments within passenger vehicles or mixed with legitimate goods when transported in tractor-trailers. Once they cross the Southwest Border, the drugs are moved to stash houses in hub cities like Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, and then distributed to various groups in the Midwest and East Coast using the same vehicles.”
“Mexican TCOs also utilize other methods to smuggle drugs across the Southwest Border. Marijuana is sometimes trafficked through underground tunnels linked to a network of safe houses on both sides of the border. Additionally, marijuana is transported via commercial cargo trains and small boats known as “pangas,” traveling from the West Coast of Baja California to the central California coast. Finally, Mexican TCOs have also employed ultralight aircraft to transport drugs across the Southwest Border.”
In Conclusion
State and federal law enforcement agencies are actively seeking solutions to the drug crisis affecting the nation. Sunrise Recovery in Jeffersonville Indiana is committed to contributing to this solution. Our drug and alcohol treatment facilities are staffed with experienced therapists and physicians who can assist you or your loved one in beginning the journey to recovery while providing education on maintaining sobriety. For more information about our inpatient facilities, please contact our admissions team today.
