Domestically manufactured synthetics are cheaper than trafficked cocaine or heroin and are spiking in popularity in Russia. Suppliers are meeting demand by producing Udemy-like online courses that teach the surprisingly accessible manufacture of synthetic drugs. For a growing number of struggling young people in Russia, the money outweighs the risks, especially if they have a drug habit. Becoming a kladman (Кладмена), which translates to ‘stashmen,’ it’s possible to make over $500 US per week — which is more than double the average weekly salary in Russia ($222). Laws are strict — potentially sending offenders to jail for five to ten years. And these days, the fastest way out of Russian prison is heading straight to the front with Ukraine (where the report details soldiers can now have drugs delivered).
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In contrast to the ROK — where dealers appear to be largely Korean nationals — the dead drop networks in South East Asia are dominated by the Russian-speaking diaspora, which has grown since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. Darknet forums like RuTor have even hosted dedicated discussion areas for Russian-speaking expats living in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and Dubai. The vast majority of drug stores identified by TRM Labs appear to be run by Russian-speaking vendors mostly targeting tourists. All darknet markets use escrow this basically means the buyer’s payment is held in escrow until the buyer confirms they’ve received the product which gives a piece of mind to the buyer. They also use 2FA, PGP, Private Mirros and Multi Signature to name some of the security features. Darknet markets are decentralized meaning they don’t run from a single server or central authority which makes it harder for authorities to track and them down.
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When one such person interviewed by WIRED sent money for cannabis through a cash transfer app but received nothing in the mail, he reported the account. “It became a threatening match and they sent photos of thugs with guns saying they were going to come for me,” he says. For every illegal drug, there is a combination of emojis that dealers and consumers use to evade detection on social media and messaging platforms. Grapes and baby bottles are the calling cards for codeine-containing cough syrup, or lean.
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But despite the doxxing efforts, authorities have been unable to find who is behind the platforms. Ten years later, in 2023, TRM labs (where Breaking Klad co-author Shortis works) calculated the combined income of all Russian drug markets at $1.5 billion US dollars, with the top 5 Russian online drug markets controlling 93% of incoming revenue. By the time Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences in 2015, successor platforms had long since been online, attracted by the high profit margins. The openly accessible site darknetstats.com alone currently lists ten active Darknet trading platforms.
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Claire Campbell’s 16-year-old son, Luke, died after taking ecstasy bought by friends on the darknet – a part of the internet that can only be accessed with special software. Terry Castleman is a data reporter on the Fast Break Desk covering breaking news. In 2020, he was named alongside his colleagues as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in explanatory reporting.
Staying Up To Date With Darknet Markets
President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued an unconditional pardon for the creator of a dark web drug marketplace, despite months of campaign tough talk toward fentanyl dealers and other traffickers. Broken or outdated links can be a major frustration when navigating darknet markets. Many markets go offline without warning leaving users and vendors clueless to what is happening.
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In one such channel, there are over 800 videos showing people being beaten, raped, dismembered, set on fire, and even crucified as retribution for their actions. Okparaeke is said to have bought from suppliers overseas in large quantities and shipped them on to customers in the US via post offices in New York and New Jersey. The pardon came on the same day the president threatened China with a 10 percent tariff on imports of Chinese-made goods for what he blamed “on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.” Trump warned the tariff could come into effect as soon as 1 February. “Bitcoin is expensive and highly volatile, so $100 today might be $60 tomorrow (or $160),” Terence told me. He and Cory explained that you therefore have to be strategic about when you buy something with Bitcoin, unless you want to pay more than you might have just days before. Keeping money in Bitcoin isn’t the greatest idea, either, for obvious reasons.
DF claims they are safe from investigation as the site’s business model differs from that of DeepDotWeb, which took affiliate sales fees in return for keeping lists of URLs updated. “I do not endorse sites and I do not take payment in exchange for anything. When Archetyp went fully offline in June 2025, it triggered the same recovery reflexes seen after past collapses.
The successors to Silk Road, the darknet drug market shut down by the FBI in 2013, are raking in tens of millions of pounds in total revenue every month, according to a new report. Unlike regular online stores, these markets can shut down, change their URLs, or face law enforcement shutdowns frequently. Because of this it’s important to stay updated on which markets are active and which ones are no longer working.
“Law enforcement has had to start from scratch in hunting them down. Because Russia is frozen out of international policing intelligence, it is hard for these borderless drug businesses to be identified and caught” — says Daly. “Russian (and Ukrainian) hackers, crypto, and online tech experts have always been ahead of the curve in this realm, and so it takes a huge effort from police to take down these kinds of shops and platforms” — says Daly. The platforms encourage the behavior by paying for advertisements on Telegram channels and even YouTube. The phenomenon has created a subculture of bloggers, YouTubers, and Telegram influencers who have turned dealing drugs into a lifestyle — creating content about their jobs online.
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But it can also uncover additional information on the nature of this kind of use and its broader impact in society. The team crawled the content of each of these sites to work out the full catalog of products on offer. They used various techniques to find hidden products, such as entering sequential identifiers to see if they corresponded with real pages. This is all while the druglords at the top of the chain preach a libertarian, self-development type of rhetoric in YouTube videos, styling working for their platforms as a way out of the considerable adversity certain Russians face. “Seagulls” is the term for people who go around looking for likely stash spots and stealing drugs.
- Agents also allegedly found large quantities of cash and suspected drugs while serving several search warrants, but the Justice Department declined to provide further details about those activities and seizures, saying the information was under seal.
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- However, opiate darknet trading volumes are highest in the “top five” countries, suggesting that there is a different pattern at work here.
- The often-used analogy “an eBay for drugs” is not entirely correct, because eBay is intended as an online retail market.
- Stashes can be discovered by children, animals, and opportunistic drug users, leading to potential overdoses and death.
Assistant United States Attorney Gregg E. Marmaro of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section prosecuted this case. While enforcement has begun moving upstream – going after technical providers, financial flows and crypto tracing – the system’s adaptability continues to outpace disruption. Until these enablers are addressed, each enforcement success risks becoming just another prelude to the next. BBC Analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at what what is being done to prevent minors seeing harmful content. The actor, who played the Facebook boss, says he is making vulnerable people “feel threatened”. The US president is considering selling his Tesla car – which he says he purchased when he was trying to help Musk promote his company.
For years, the party has argued that Ulbricht simply hosted the site and didn’t actually engage in drug possession or transactions directly. They cast the venture as a libertarian experiment in free trade instead of criminal activity. Researchers also found that a quarter of listings were priced above £768 ($1,000), implying that many dealers were using online markets to buy in bulk for offline sale. A major feature of these markets is that they use crypto like Bitcoin and Monero, monero especially offers a high level of anonymity and security, if you are interested in learning how to get and use Monero you can check our beginners guide. Unlike traditional payment methods cryptocurrencies don’t require personal details like credit card numbers or bank accounts making the transactions more private.
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Joshua Vasquez pleaded guilty on April 24, 2024, and was sentenced on July 25, 2024, to 12 years in prison. Joseph Vasquez pleaded guilty on April 15, 2024, and was sentenced on Aug. 8, 2024, to 10 years in prison. Roman pleaded guilty on May 30, 2024, and was sentenced on Nov. 14, 2024, to 10 years in prison.
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By offering so many options, these sites also just make it easier for psychonauts to explore what’s out there. Brian, a writer, harm reduction supporter and avid drug consumer in his 60s, hasn’t ever bought directly from the dark web. Before the United Kingdom, where he lives, banned “legal highs” in 2016, he would purchase spice, mephedrone, kratom, salvia and psychedelics from specialty websites. He began doing this after the law cracked down on brick-and-mortar headshops. Dr Martin says darknet trading is very difficult to police, but it’s not all bad news for law enforcement.
