Funded by the Australian Government under the Drug and Alcohol Program

Recent trends in illicit drugs available on darknet marketplaces: Recent findings from the DNeT projectA. Mathur, A. Peacock, R. Bruno, T. Dobbins, A. Roxburgh

• Anonymous marketplaces accessed via an “onion” routed connection.

• Transactions require cryptocurrency.

• Marketplaces employ various escrow systems.

• Aim is to quantify the composition of these marketplaces.

Background – Dark Web Marketplaces

What Does it Look Like?

What Does it Look Like?

Methods

Weekly scraping

Data cleaning

Phrase matching

Predictive model

Assigning broader

class

Drug Classification

Drug Classification - Example

Predictive Model

“XTC” phrase match

Classify as MDMA

“Xct Peace&Love225mg (x10)”

“5 XTC Pills Bitcoin Stamp 250MG”

Silk Road & Silk Road 2.0

Dream Market

Operation Bayonet

Total Listings by Market

Empire Market

Fentanyl Listings

Fentanyl Shipping to AU

To Conclude…

• Darknet marketplaces are highly dynamic.

• MDMA and Cannabis are the most commonly available substances.

• Empire market is steadily growing.

For further information

Contact us drugtrends@unsw.edu.au

Website https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/program/drug-trends

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