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Ogla



Registered: 02/16/04
Posts: 11,314
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the Illicit online drug trade is growing, study finds 2
#23517307 - 08/06/16 10:42 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Aug. 5, 2016
BRUSSELS—Online trade in illicit drugs via the hidden marketplaces known as cryptomarkets is growing, with revenue having doubled and transactions having tripled since 2013, according to a study published Friday.
The study was carried out by RAND Europe, a policy research institute, and commissioned by the Dutch government. It identified 50 of the cryptomarkets around the world, predominantly run by drug sellers in the U.S., Australia and the U.K.
Monthly revenue of these marketplaces is estimated at between $12 million and $21.1 million, based on the listed prices on eight of the largest ones.
Despite the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s closure in 2013 of Silk Road, at the time the largest cryptomarket for illicit drugs, dozens of others have emerged since, the study found. Several other closures by law enforcement and scams by fake vendors over the past three years have failed to deter consumers from using online drug trading platforms, the report found.
According to the study, more than half of the vendors made more than $1,000 a month and the most successful vendor made an estimated $276,230 in January, a 10-fold increase on the most successful vendor in 2013.
The majority of transactions are valued at less than $100, suggesting that customers are buying the drugs for personal use. However, most of the revenue is generated by customers buying illicit drugs in large quantities, suggesting the intention to resell.
Cannabis represents 37% of the total revenue, followed by cocaine and amphetamines (29%), and ecstasy-type drugs (19%), according to the report.
Vendors indicating they operate out of the U.S. have 39% of the market share, followed by the U.K. (16.1%) and Australia (10.6%). German vendors represent 8.4%, while Dutch vendors are at 7.1% of the online illicit drug market.
Per capita, the Netherlands had the highest revenue for illicit online drug sales and Dutch vendors dominate the sales of MDMA and ecstasy, which represent 23% of the total global revenue on cryptomarkets.
Vendors and buyers appear to be young males from English-speaking or Western European countries. Vendors seem to be a mix of professional drug dealers with close ties to production, who consider internet sales as an additional revenue stream, and newcomers who previously sold drugs only to friends.
Buyers are mostly recreational drug users, attracted by the possibility of buying online because of a perceived sense of safety, quality and variety of drugs, as well as ease and speed of delivery. So-called trip reports describing the effects of the specific substances and vendor reputation feedback from other buyers also contribute to the success of the cryptomarkets, according to the report.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/online-trade-in-illicit-drugs-is-growing-study-finds-1470420556
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Junior Fungus
Golden Student


Registered: 09/19/11
Posts: 352
Loc: Québec
Last seen: 9 months, 2 days
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Re: the Illicit online drug trade is growing, study finds [Re: Ogla]
#23520845 - 08/08/16 12:21 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Don't you think that if online drug trade gets too big, the feds will mess around with privacy policies of mail services? I mean, don't you think they'll try to make these transactions too risky to be worth the 8-ball of "pure coke" bought online?
I feel like they could start busting consumers too, as a kind of fear tactic.
-------------------- My Grow Logs: Psychoactives Edibles & Medicinals
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
Posts: 26,088
Loc: Deep in the system
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Re: the Illicit online drug trade is growing, study finds [Re: Junior Fungus]
#23520885 - 08/08/16 12:45 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Junior Fungus said: I feel like they could start busting consumers too, as a kind of fear tactic.
I've been keeping a very close eye on this. I've yet to see anything notable come up.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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