But increasingly deals are being done online using the so-called dark net, at online marketplaces where cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are used for anonymous transactions. The news.com.au analysis found that Australia’s top dealer, “TheProfessionals”, has an estimated total income of $3.3 million selling about $824,266 worth of drugs a month. “These apps are a lot more convenient and easier to use than the dark web, but they lack many of the security features and review capacities of darknet markets,” she said. Encryption technologies allow vendors to communicate with customers and receive payments anonymously.
- Here we found large disparities between the prices of illicit drugs sold by foreign-based cryptomarket vendors and those located in Australia.
- And then there’s malware—click the wrong link or download the wrong file, and your device could get infected.
- “These apps are a lot more convenient and easier to use than the dark web, but they lack many of the security features and review capacities of darknet markets,” explains Dr. Barratt.
- They only included samples that were purchased in-person or on dark-web cryptomarkets, excluding samples that participants simply stated were from “the internet.” In total, 62,596 drug samples met these criteria.
- This means that a person can be deemed to have intended to sell or supply a drug, even when the amount they possessed was quite small but it was diluted in a large amount of other material.
The dark net runs parallel to the internet we use for all of our standard online activities. However, unlike other websites it is only accessible via software like Tor that makes a user’s identity anonymous by routing online communications through several computers and layers of encryption. Although the software has legitimate uses like protecting internet users in authoritarian countries, the dark net is also being used by many for illegal activities like selling drugs or purchasing weapons. As a result, we are seeing people who would never have considered selling drugs on the street getting involved in illegal online drug sales. However, these young people have no idea of the risks they are taking or the trouble they can get into if caught.
More Than 1/3 Illicit Drugs Sold On The Dark Web Contain Unexpected Substances
Buying dozens of kilograms at a time, some of Chris’ buyers onsold drugs to local consumers both on the dark web and via street deals. Chris, whose real name cannot be used for legal reasons, was the kingpin of an international syndicate that sold hundreds of kilograms of drugs via the postal service. Similarly, some cryptomarket drugs—MDMA powder and cocaine—were far less likely to contain adulterants.
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The study also critiques Australia’s law enforcement-focused approach to tackling the issue, pointing out the resilience and adaptability of the darknet market ecosystem to legal disruptions. Changes in the structure of the global narcotic trade from plant-based to synthetic drugs posed significant challenges for police in addressing this form of cybercrime, Professor Broadhurst said, warning exchanges could slip through the cracks undetected. A Western Sydney man will face Downing Centre Local Court today (29 August, 2023) charged for allegedly attempting to import a variety of illicit drugs, including a synthetic opioid. “Drug checking is a precautionary and pragmatic response to the health risks of unpredictable drug markets, often detecting hazardous substances before they flood the local market,” she said. These insights help us understand why the dark web is increasingly attractive, not only to consumers of illicit drugs but to the people who supply them.
Dark Net Vendors Charged In Australia Drug Bust
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. Table 1 presents descriptive analysis of the total number of listings, the number of active listings and the total sales (as proxied by feedbacks) recording the dataset overall. It is immediately clear that there is an extremely low number of listings for the antidepressant, antipsychotic, antiepileptic and dementia products, and with so few sales of each of these products these were excluded from further analysis. And a South Australian man was charged in July with allegedly importing fentanyl that was purchased from an online black market vendor. You can buy personal quantities of cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana or MDMA, performance-enhancing drugs like steroids and controlled opioids like fentanyl.
Illicit Drugs Easily Bought On The Dark Web Sent Via The Post To Users Across Australia
A number of Australian purchasers also bought drugs via the dark web for personal use, which makes up about 90 per cent of the global drug purchases on the dark web. Using the lab data about each sample’s composition, the research team investigated whether drugs from the dark web were more likely to contain the substance advertised and less likely to contain contaminants, compared to those bought offline. “Drug checking services never tell consumers that their drugs are ‘safe’ as no drug use can be 100% safe. “However, we know through research on darknet market takedown operations that this ecosystem is quick to adapt to removal of markets.
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But these results suggest that, while some substances were indeed less likely to be adulterated, purchasing there is not a silver-bullet harm reduction strategy—and that testing remains vital whatever the source. By paying close attention to where adulterated substances were purchased, local drug checking services can help participants make more informed decisions to protect their health. This revelation comes amid a decline in dark web drug purchases in favor of more accessible platforms such as messaging and social media apps, as reported by the 2023 National Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System survey. These platforms, while user-friendly, lack the security and review features of darknet markets, potentially increasing the risk to consumers. The flip side to this argument is that local cryptomarket vendors – and the organised crime groups that supply them – benefit from the protectionism that is unwittingly afforded by Australian law enforcement. By deterring the importation of cheaper foreign drugs, local law enforcement are effectively insulating Australian drug suppliers from foreign competition, thereby boosting their profits and helping to maintain their illegal businesses.
Top 7 Dark Web Marketplaces
RMIT and Deakin universities are working with Barwon Water to create valuable agricultural and manufacturing products out of common waste streams. Gaps are emerging in the provision of local news across Australia, but embracing community driven content could be key to improving the viability of local news. “These takedowns are used to create a sense of general deterrence through announcing arrests and interruptions to markets,” she said. MDMA, methamphetamines and heroin sourced were consistently found to only contain the advertised substance.
Sales of drugs such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilisers and antidementia drugs – all drugs with limited abuse potential – were negligible, indicating minimal levels of online cryptomarket procurement for self-medicating mental health problems. The relatively high prices charged by local cryptomarket vendors are likely to be interpreted as signs of success by Australian border protection agencies. They are evidence that while foreign vendors are typically prepared to send illicit drugs to Australia, many local consumers are averse to the risks this entails. The perception that drugs may be intercepted entering the country therefore contributes to the high prices that local consumers pay for illicit drugs. Our analysis also focused on the price of illicit drugs that are sold on the darknet. Here we found large disparities between the prices of illicit drugs sold by foreign-based cryptomarket vendors and those located in Australia.
Silk Road was the first dark market of its kind, and it’s best known for the buying and selling of illegal drugs online. Silk Road launched in 2011, and although it was shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigations by 2013, it took less than a month for its successor, Silk Road 2.0, to launch. Silk Road 2.0 was then shut down once again in 2014, and the United States government later seized more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin in November 2020. One of the bigger changes the internet has introduced to the global marketplace is the ability to find, purchase and receive goods without ever leaving the comfort of home.
Despite their ubiquity, online drug markets have distinct geographical hubs, shaped by regional roles in the global trade. Most dark web drug shipments originate from the US and Northern and Western Europe, as well as Russia. Russia also recorded the highest proportion (85.7%) of drug users purchasing on the darknet in 2022, and a drug trafficking average of 5.75 in the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index. Opioid dependency products are also dominated by the USA, potentially a reflection of the ongoing opioid crisis in that country coupled with their supply restrictions (Hadland & Beletsky, 2018). With regard to stimulants the results clearly point to the highest usage rates being found in the USA, with other markets representing only a fraction of that share. 2.5% of the entire darknet drug market trade in that country is in these drugs, and this increased by half a percentage point per year over the 3 year study period.
What Is Silk Road?
While 65% of samples contained only the advertised substance, the study found 14% of samples had a mixture of the advertised substance with other psychoactive or potentially harmful chemicals. Scientists particularly noted the inconsistency in cocaine samples; out of 19 tested, only four were found to be pure cocaine. The remainder were either adulterated with other substances or did not contain cocaine at all. “There are fewer sellers selling big amounts and many sellers selling small amounts and it is in such small amounts, it makes it easy to move. “We are on the brink of a new opioid epidemic driven by synthetics like fentanyl and carfentanil that are driving a greater risk of overdose deaths,” he said.
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. The emergence of exchanges such as Silk Road on the dark web have facilitated the exchange of illegal drugs across the internet.
The US District Court in Manhattan sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and ordered him to forfeited 183 million dollars, being the proceeds of his crimes. “Many markets, particularly markets that want to stay operational, will often ban vendors from selling those sorts of products, just like they do with child exploitation materials.” In April 2019 they found three new markets – Agartha, Dream Alt and Samsara – were added after Wall Street and Valhalla were seized by law enforcement and Dream voluntarily closed. The markets, which sell a variety of contraband including illicit drugs, included Apollon, Empire, Dream, Nightmare, Tochka (aka Point), Berlusconi, Valhalla (aka Silkitie) and Wall Street. While the darknet is present globally, Australia has been a key player in the darknet industry.
