IN FOCUS TRAFFICKING OVER THE DARKNET CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: EVOLVING TRENDS AND 4 NEW CHALLENGES 2020 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. Suggested citation: In Focus: Trafficking over the Darknet - World Drug Report 2020. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from UNODC. Applications for such permission, with a statement of purpose and intent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Research and Trend Analysis Branch of UNODC. DISCLAIMER The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNODC or contributory organizations, nor does it imply any endorsement. Comments on the report are welcome and can be sent to: Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime PO Box 500 1400 Vienna Austria Tel: (+43) 1 26060 0 Fax: (+43) 1 26060 5827 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.unodc.org/wdr2020 2020 WORLD DRUG REPORT Acknowledgements The World Drug Report 2020 was prepared by the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under the supervi- sion of Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of the Division, and Angela Me, Chief of the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, and the coordination of Chloé Carpentier, Chief of the Drug Research Section. Content overview Graphic design and production Chloé Carpentier Anja Korenblik Angela Me Suzanne Kunnen Kristina Kuttnig Analysis and drafting Federica Martinelli Thomas Pietschmann Administrative support Editing Andrada-Maria Filip Jonathan Gibbons Iulia Lazar Review and comments The World Drug Report 2020 benefited from the expertise of and invaluable contributions from UNODC colleagues in all divisions. The Research and Trend Analysis Branch acknowledges the invaluable contributions and advice provided by the World Drug Report Scientific Advisory Committee: Jonathan Caulkins Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar Paul Griffiths Peter Reuter Marya Hynes Alison Ritter Vicknasingam B. Kasinather Francisco Thoumi Charles Parry The analysis on purchases of drugs on the darknet is based on original data graciously shared by the Global Drug Survey team. 2 EXPLANATORY NOTES The designations employed and the presentation of The following abbreviations have been used in the the material in the World Drug Report do not imply present booklet: the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations con- alpha-PVP alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone cerning the legal status of any country, territory, city APAAN alpha-phenylacetoacetonitrile or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delim- ATS amphetamine-type stimulants itation of its frontiers or boundaries. Countries and areas are referred to by the names CBD cannabidiol that were in official use at the time the relevant data DEA Drug Enforcement Administration were collected. EMCDDA European Monitoring Centre for Since there is some scientific and legal ambiguity Drugs and Drug Addiction about the distinctions between “drug use”, “drug misuse” and “drug abuse”, the neutral term “drug Europol European Union Agency for Law use” is used in the World Drug Report. The term Enforcement Cooperation “misuse” is used only to denote the non-medical use GDP gross domestic product of prescription drugs. INCB International Narcotics Control All uses of the word “drug” and the term “drug use” Board in the World Drug Report refer to substances con- trolled under the international drug control INTERPOL International Criminal Police conventions, and their non-medical use. Organization All analysis contained in the World Drug Report is LSD lysergic acid diethylamide based on the official data submitted by Member MAPA methyl alpha-phenylacetoacetate States to the UNODC through the annual report MDA methylenedioxyamphetamine questionnaire unless indicated otherwise. The data on population used in the World Drug MDMA 3,4-methylenedioxymethampheta- Report are taken from: World Population Prospects: mine The 2019 Revision (United Nations, Department MDPV methylenedioxypyrovalerone of Economic and Social Affairs, Population 4-MEC 4-methylethcathinone Division). References to dollars ($) are to United States dollars, 3-MMC 3-methylmethcathinone unless otherwise stated. 4-MMC 4-methylmethcathinone References to tons are to metric tons, unless other- NPS new psychoactive substances wise stated. PCP phencyclidine P-2-P 1-phenyl-2-propanone PMK piperonyl methyl ketone S-DDD defined daily doses for statistical purposes THC Δ-9 – tetrahydrocannabinol UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 3 Drug trafficking over the darknet buyer.254, 255 Parcels are often sent to anonymous DRUG TRAFFICKING OVER post office boxes, including automated lockers for THE DARKNET self-service collection. In jurisdictions with strong secrecy-of-correspondence laws, which typically Vendors and customers perceive apply to letters, drugs are often dispatched in letters. advantages in using the In some countries, drugs purchased on the darknet darknet for drug transactions are thus preferably posted in letters to destinations within the poster’s own country. This has also Purchases and sales of drugs and NPS over the Inter- prompted some darknet vendors to transport letters net involve both the open net (using encrypted containing drugs across the border into neighbouring communication) and the darknet, which forms part countries in order to post them within the client’s of the deep web. Although not discussed in this destination country and avoid detection.256 chapter, various social media apps are also increas- ingly being used for purchasing and selling drugs. Darknet platforms bring anonymous suppliers and anonymous customers together. Although some The main characteristic and comparative advantage darknet drug sales are from dealer to dealer, there of darknet markets is their perceived anonymity, in are indications that most are still from dealer to user. particular the physical anonymity of those who do Purchasers may benefit from other customers’ feed- business on such markets. Purchasing drugs on those back about the quality of the drugs sold, which can markets does not necessarily require physical con- help them to evaluate the perceived reliability of the tact, which reduces the inhibitions of some supplier.257, 258, 259 The platforms may guarantee the customers who might otherwise be reticent to inter- payments of the goods sold, typically by making use act personally with drug dealers. In addition, the of escrow account systems,260 into which the client customer does not have to go to dangerous places is required to pay immediately for the required goods to buy drugs. Darknet trafficking also overcomes but the finalization of the payment to the supplier the challenge of sellers and buyers having to be in is postponed until the goods have actually been the same location; thus, organizations that traffic received by the customer. drugs over the darknet do not need to have the criti- cal mass of customers necessary to sustain a local The darknet appears to be particularly attractive for market. Customers intending to buy drugs over the darknet 254 World Customs Organization, Illicit Trade Report 2015 (Brussels, December 2016), p. 44. typically access it through the onion router (TOR) 255 See the background report prepared by UNODC for the in order to conceal their identities. Specialized dark- meeting on the recent development of the opiate market in net explorers (such as GRAMS, before it was taken Central Asia, the Russian Federation and the Caucasus, held down in December 2017, DuckDuckGo, Ahmia,251 in Vienna on 29 and 30 January 2020. 252 256 Presentation by Robert Taferner, Austrian Criminal Intelli- Torch, Hidden Wiki, etc.) enable them to access gence Service, on online drug trafficking at the workshop of their desired market platforms. The goods bought the National Reitox Academy on online drug purchases and on the various darknet marketplaces are then typi- implications for health responses, organized by Gesundheit cally paid for in cryptocurrencies, most notably Österreich, 2 December 2019. 257 M.J. Barratt, J.A. Ferris and A.R. Winstock, “Use of Silk bitcoins, which are also used for licit transactions Road, the online drug marketplace, in the United Kingdom, on the open web.253 These cryptocurrencies can sub- Australia and the United States”, Addiction, vol. 10, No. 4 sequently be used to buy other goods and services, (May 2014). or they may be exchanged for various national 258 Meropi Tzanetakis, Gerrit Kamphausen, Bernd Werse and Roger von Laufenberg, “The transparency paradox. Building currencies. trust, resolving disputes and optimising logistics on conven- tional and online drugs markets”, International Journal of In general, the drugs are delivered by public or Drug Policy, vol. 35 (September 2016). private postal services, presumably without their 259 Judith Aldridge and David Décary-Hétu, “Not an ‘eBay for knowledge, although the drugs may also be hidden drugs’: the cryptomarket ‘Silk Road’ as a paradigm shifting in locations that are secretly communicated to the criminal innovation”,