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Digital drug deals are becoming more prevalent on the so-called “dark web,” according to new research from criminologist Richard Frank, director of the International CyberCrime Research Centre at Simon Fraser University (SFU).
“Cryptomarkets, which are typically short-lived (websites) that appear and shut down regularly, can be used as an alternative method to access these products,” said Frank, a panellist for the Council of Canadian Academies, which recently issued a report called Vulnerable Connections. The report shows digital technology advancements are outpacing the ability to address the societal harms they produce.
Frank and his team of researchers at SFU report an 80 per cent increase in drug revenues for cryptomarkets, between 2013 and 2021.
“With lower prices, contactless transactions, and a large variety of drug products available in varying quantities for the buyer’s perusal, it becomes an attractive alternative for the illicit trade,” said Frank.
Between June 2021 and January 2022, an estimated 16.8 tons of drug products — mostly stimulants, cannabis, opioids and benzodiazepines — were trafficked for $234.7 million across eight cryptomarkets and distributed around the world.
The shipping aspect of the market is something that officials and police may wish to target as the technology continues to advance, said Frank.
More sophisticated sorting machines at shipping facilities, said Frank, “may become a solution to better search and identify drug packages during the shipping process, based on the characteristics of drug packages. With more packages being seized, vendors may decide to avoid shipping globally because of heightened risk and potential financial loss.”
Frank told Glacier Media in an interview that the research could not track shipments by province.
One challenge for curbing the activity will be the evolving online nature of the business, said researcher Shu Liu, noting vendors may choose invite-only chat rooms.
“It can be difficult for law enforcement agencies to clamp down on [the] international cryptomarket drug trade, but developing and testing new tools and techniques will increase the chances of illicit imports being intercepted by authorities as they go through the mail,” said Liu.
Frank described a distribution system as like a game of cat and mouse, where police organizations have to evolve their detective skills on the dark web.
“The encryption is strong and police are having a hard time dealing with this; still, police do make some breakthroughs periodically. But it is a very different skill set than in-person drug dealing,” said Frank.
The dark web, said Frank, only requires software installation and is used on a browser based on Firefox. The dark web has no search engine and allows people to install websites anonymously.
“Think of these marketplaces like Amazon. People put up products, and someone comes along to buy them,” said Frank.
Because reviews are mandatory, Frank’s team was able to estimate the volume of drugs being sold by cross-referencing the reviews with the product advertisements.
