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. According to the research organisation Rand Europe, there were around 50 so-called cryptomarkets where anonymous sellers and buyers trade illegal drugs, psychoactive substances and prescription drugs operating on the darknet in 2016. Beginning in September 2021, Abacus Market has established itself as one of the leading dark web marketplaces. After AlphaBay closed, Abacus Market took its place as the world’s largest underground darknet marketplaces. Abacus Market quickly rose to prominence by attracting former AlphaBay users and providing a comprehensive platform for a wide range of illicit activities.
Some people really are better off using drugs (especially if their use helps them cope with serious trauma—and it often does). Without dope, I’m too hopelessly depressed to work, study or even eat regularly. “I hate to imagine where I’d be without it,” said Marie of her use during a traumatic period of her life.
Our team searched the dark web and put together a list of the most active dark web marketplaces in order to assist you in monitoring illegal trade of products, cybercrime activity, and dark web trends in the dark web space. An international law enforcement operation led to the arrest of one of the three administrators of the dual dark web market ‘Bohemia/Cannabia,’ known for hosting ads for drug sales and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Initial studies into drug sales on social media began to be published in 2012. Over the next decade, piecemeal studies began to reveal a notable portion of drug sales were being mediated by social platforms.
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In some countries, like Russia or China, dark web access itself may be blocked or penalized. Not all onion sites are dangerous, but many host illegal, harmful, or deceptive content. SecureDrop is an anonymous file-sharing platform designed for secure communication between whistleblowers and journalists. While anyone can use it, it’s built for high-stakes exchanges, making it overkill for routine file sharing or data backups. Major news outlets like The New York Times, The Economist, and The Guardian host SecureDrop instances on the dark web to give sources a safe, anonymous way to share sensitive information. It is a useful tool for people who value their privacy and want to protect their communications with default end-to-end encryption, zero-access architecture, and minimal personal information requirements.
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A dark web drug trafficker who sent countless shipments of drugs to Ireland has been jailed in the US. However, she said this had also placed “additional pressures” on lawyers working in those courts and prosecutors. “Additional resourcing in one part of the criminal justice system needs to be matched across the system,” she said.
The Birth And Rise Of The Silk Road
Silk Road was a website synonymous with the so-called Dark Web before the FBI shut it down in 2013. It amassed hundreds of thousands of users in its short two and a half year lifetime. He told gardaí he had intended to smoke or bake the cannabis he ordered adding that he was a drug addict, having first taken drugs aged 11. The judge said it was clear from the evidence that the offending coincided with a particularly low point in his life and an overall deterioration of his well-being, which had led to heavy use of cannabis. In one case, the FBI contacted gardai in West Cork about a person accessing a dark web site related to the exploitation of children.
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After one too many experiences with this joke of a drug, I decided to look for a new source. I’ve heard from friends and drug-user forums alike that dark-web drugs tend to be of better quality, and that buying in this way reduces some risks. It underscores that despite the perceived anonymity of such platforms, law enforcement agencies can effectively track and dismantle these operations through international cooperation and advanced investigative techniques. This operation marks a critical milestone in the fight against illegal online activities, particularly those involving drugs and cybercrime services. It is a hub for financial cybercrime and offers a wide range of illicit services and stolen data that cater to sophisticated cybercriminals. Based on our observations from analysis on dark web data using Lunar, we’ve identified the top 7 marketplaces on the dark web in 2025.
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But the slowdown in the trade in sedatives coincided with significant growth in the trade in the trade in steroids on both the surface and the dark web. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of anabolic steroids seized increased from under 40,000 to over 100,000 units. A total of £32,850 in cash and £71,038 in cryptocurrency was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Officers swooped simultaneous at the safe house on Coventry Road, Birmingham, to find Amar preparing a further 20 drugs packages.
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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. Among the various illicit digital markets, the drug trade is one of the most prominent. In 2024, darknet marketplaces generated over US$1.7 billion in cryptocurrency-enabled drug transactions, marking year-on-year growth of over 20%.
He has been charged with three offences by US authorities, including conspiracy to commit computer hacking, money laundering and distribution of illegal drugs. Authorities reported that Singh’s operation moved hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs over several years. Detective Alan Carbery, who works in the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab), said organised crime gangs were also now routinely using cryptocurrency to launder money made selling drugs. The Silk Road was founded in 2011 by Ross Ulbricht, who went by the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Ulbricht envisioned a decentralized online marketplace free from government intervention. To achieve this, he leveraged Tor, a privacy-focused browser that masked users’ identities, along with Bitcoin for anonymous transactions. Torch is one of the more established dark web search engines, designed to help users navigate the Tor network and discover onion sites.
He was found in possession of 61 packages containing Class A drugs addressed to recipients in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cocaine could be bought in quantities ranging from one gram to a kilo, a court heard. Watch our cyber team share their key insights from their investigations into the biggest dark web trends in 2022.
The Invisible Majority: People Whose Drug Use Is Not Problematic
Cab had to buy software to analyse cryptocurrency transactions to try to follow the money, he said. They can run up to €50,000 for one licence for one year, but they are essential for our investigation, so it is crucial that we invest in that area,” he said. “We’re finding that on an international level as well that shipments of cocaine from South and Central America, are now being paid for in cryptocurrency,” he told the conference.
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- My first venture into the dark web begins, as all internet searches do, on Google.
- “A lot of teenage kids are buying their drugs on the dark net,” Det Carbery told a national prosecutor’s conference on Saturday.
- Sinclair (32) was arrested after police seized ecstasy pills, herbal cannabis and diazepam tablets worth an estimated £100,000 during separate raids at his Cranagh Road, Coleraine address and the home of a co-accused in east Belfast.
- A 40-year-old Indian citizen, Banmeet Singh from Haldwani, has been handed a five-year prison in the United States in term for trafficking controlled substances on dark web platforms and has also been ordered to forfeit around $150 million.
- Drug sales on the dark web are trending downward in favor of Snapchat, Telegram, and others.
- However, to counter such a rapidly growing threat, countries will need to enhance intelligence gathering and harness emerging technology.
A Southern California duo face federal sentencing for selling tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine on the dark web, causing the death of at least one teenager. 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. Their study, recently published in the journal Addiction, uncovered a complicated relationship between the quality of drugs and their source. While the dark web offered a safer supply of some substances, others appeared more reliable when purchased offline. It’s thought the administrators made off with members’ funds, leaving customers’ wallets empty and vendors needing to rebuild their shops somewhere else. Drugs seized including fentanyl, oxycodone, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and MDMA.
Vendors with higher feedback ratings can get away with asking for “early finalization.” This system (along with the reviews and forums) incentivizes them to sell what they say they’re selling; ripping people off has consequences. 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.
