The Illegal Drug Trade on the Dark Web

"The Dark Web is a subsection of the internet that has become a hub for illicit activities, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons trading. The Dark Web offers extensive layers of anonymity, making it appealing for individuals to engage in criminal behavior (Gupta et al., 2019). For example, information exchange over the Dark Web differs from the rest of the internet by employing robust encryption techniques for information exchange (Gupta et al., 2019). Additionally, the Dark Web is characterized by a network of websites that are not indexed by search engines, rendering it accessible exclusively through specialized software and browsers like The Onion Router (TOR) (Gupta et al., 2019).

"The illicit drug trade on the Dark Web poses unique risks to public health and safety. Substances available on the Dark Web are unregulated and untraceable and, unlike traditional drug markets, are not geographically limited. Therefore, the Dark Web provides a global platform for drug trafficking. This has resulted in an increase in the availability and accessibility of illicit drugs, which may have contributed to drug epidemics around the world. The illicit drug trade on the Dark Web takes place on cryptomarkets, characterized by their use of cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin) for payment (ElBahrawy et al., 2020). This form of payment is nearly untraceable and allows those selling and purchasing drugs on the Dark Web to evade law enforcement (Kumar and Rosenbach, 2019)."