IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO can help protect your organisation’s information. 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.
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“I hate to imagine where I’d be without it,” said Marie of her use during a traumatic period of her life. 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.
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It should force us to think about where harm is really happening online and whether current strategies are looking in the wrong direction. In some cases, established sellers on closed-down markets are welcomed onto new markets as digital “refugees” and have joining fees waived. Before escrow systems became commonplace, Marie once fell prey to a so-called “exit scam.” That’s when a dealer who plans to stop selling on a marketplace continues to take orders that they never plan to fulfill.

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Some people use it to simply stop adverts following them around the internet, whistle-blowers use it to share information and expose high level corruption and some journalists use it to contact their sources in a highly secure and untraceable manner. Mr Le Vert asked the court to consider imposing Section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. He said the question is that, given what this man “demonstrably has to give”, should he be curtailed by the recording of a conviction for an offence he committed when he was 19-years-old.
Dark Web Drug Operation Sees Two Northern Ireland Men Jailed
The student told gardaí he intended to smoke or bake the more than €4,000-worth of cannabis and admitted to ordering drugs online on three previous occasions. Det Supt Shields said the PSNI monitor social platforms for illegal activity and have a number of specially-trained detectives in this area. “When you purchase such drugs online it’s extremely dangerous because a doctor will have looked at your medical history and when you don’t have that, you’re running the risk of causing your body harm and in some cases it can be fatal.” The dark web hosts a wide range of sites — from whistleblower tools and secure email platforms to underground forums, black markets, and dark web mirrors of legitimate news outlets. Riseup is a volunteer-run collective that offers secure chat and email services primarily used by progressive activists and social justice communities.
- It was a resource-heavy operation, involving hundreds of separate investigations by five EU and US agencies.
- And despite being in psychiatric treatment, Marie didn’t feel as if she were improving.
- ViCyber is an Australian based company whose mission is to simplify and strengthen cybersecurity for all businesses, irrespective of size.
- Mr Guerin submitted that O’Connor had a drug dependency at the time but was now clean and had a “bright future” in the film industry.
- ProPublica is an investigative news site owned by an independent nonprofit that exposes abuses of power and corruption.
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- Even if you still have a regular in-person dealer that you trust, they may not know what they’re selling, or, for that matter, be able to find a supplier whose gear isn’t compromised.
- From at least mid-2012 through July 2017, Singh controlled at least eight distribution cells within the United States, including cells located in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington, among other locations.
- The dark web is shrouded in mystery, but not every onion website is dangerous.
- Cocaine could be bought in quantities ranging from one gram to a kilo, a court heard.
- 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.
The criminal enterprise generated millions of dollars in profits, which were then laundered through cryptocurrency accounts. Gibbons rejects the idea that shutdowns are a pointless and expensive waste of police time. “Although new DNMs have emerged, our work impacts on the trustworthiness of those running the sites. The replacement sites often take a considerable time to build up to the same vendor-customer base,” he said. Since 2020, 2easy has sold massive stealer logs with sensitive data like passwords, bank cards, and initial access credentials.
Torzon Market
In 2021, it was estimated some 20 percent of drug purchases in Ireland were being arranged through social media. In the US in 2018 and Spain in 2019, a tenth of young people who used drugs appear to have connected with dealers through the internet, with the large majority doing so through social media, according to one small study. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players who purchase warehouses and garages for illicit cargo and stolen cars can buy/steal and sell them through trade on the “SecuroServ” syndicate website. After the Biker DLC, players can now purchase buildings for illegal drugs and counterfeit products manufacture, and distribute them through a darknet website called “The Open Road” where law enforcement cannot be notified of the player’s trade.

Note that Hidden Wiki links sometimes lead to unsafe content, so be wary about what you click. Last week, one of the dark web’s most prominent drug marketplaces—Archetyp—was shut down in an international, multi-agency law enforcement operation following years of investigations. It was touted as a major policing win and was accompanied by a slick cyberpunk-themed video. Whether because of fentanyl adulteration or the present pandemic, buying drugs from the “dark web”—a term for sites in the unsearchable “deep web” part of the internet that require specific software to access—has never looked so appealing. Even if you still have a regular in-person dealer that you trust, they may not know what they’re selling, or, for that matter, be able to find a supplier whose gear isn’t compromised. In addition, the surface web, including social media and e-commerce platforms, increasingly offers criminals – particularly in the illicit drug trade – a vast customer base, ease of use and a measure of anonymity.

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As authorities continue to target these illicit online environments, the fate of marketplaces like Bohemia serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle between law enforcement and cybercriminals operating in the shadows of the internet. The shift to digital trade was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns pushed many consumers and vendors towards online platforms. 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.
Market URLs change rapidly nowadays on the dark web, to escape malicious hacking by blackmailers. This exposes users to risk as it is simple to copy a site’s code, host a fake version of it, circulate URLs online and steal users’ passwords to the official sites – and then steal their bitcoins. Dark web markets have exploded in scale and reach in 2025, becoming the most dangerous hubs for trading drugs, stolen data, and hacking tools. These anonymous marketplaces—operating mainly on the Tor network—are now a primary threat vector for businesses and cybersecurity professionals. The Hidden Wiki is a longstanding directory of dark web sites that offers a way to browse onion services. It’s been around for many years and helps users navigate the dark web by curating links to various resources.
‘Many Have Sinister Side Effects’: How Gardaí Tackle The Sale Of Drugs On The Dark Web

In this article, we’ll explore the history of the Silk Road, its impact on the internet and cybercrime, and the legacy it left behind as the online marketplace that reshaped the digital black market landscape. The 35-year-old suspect never physically handled the drugs, he acted only as a middleman on the dark web, making a profit from a turnover of around 100 million HUF (€250,000), which he used for buying property. According to Cory, only one online dealer in North America sells truly fentanyl-less heroin anymore. While a number claim to sell “fentanyl-free” dope, reviews indicate that they’re lying. (Some people also seek fentanyl and there are vendors who openly sell it.) Still, my sources agree, unwanted fentanyl is found in lower levels in drugs bought online compared with street drugs.
Examples include the sale of high-quality products with low risk for contamination (including lacing and cutting), vendor-tested products, sharing of trip reports, and online discussion of harm reduction practices. In the aftermath of the arrests, Bohemia’s website now displays a seizure notice from law enforcement agencies, indicating that significant progress has been made in mapping the infrastructure of the marketplace and identifying its key players. The operation is part of a broader global effort to combat cybercrime, following previous actions against other illicit platforms, such as the seizure of the Nemesis marketplace in March. These coordinated efforts signal a determined stance by international law enforcement to disrupt the operations of dark web marketplaces and hold cybercriminals accountable for their actions.