Drug: one in ten consumers have bought online – TVI24

One in ten consumers around the world have bought drugs over the Internet. The online sales market is growing and changing as it is increasingly operated in “invisible” Internet zone, something that is worrying the authorities.

The conclusion contained in the drug of the European Monitoring Report and drug Addiction (EMCDDA), entitled “the Internet and drug markets’, which was released this Thursday. the document warns of the increasing online traffic and the transformation that the Internet has operated in the world drug market .

“over the past decade, the virtual markets have been changing the dynamics of buying and selling drugs. Although it is considered that the majority of drug transactions illegal is offline done, the online drug markets have the potential to transform the future of drug sales in the same way that online shopping has revolutionized the retail trade. “

based on a telephone survey of about 13,000 young Europeans between 15 and 24 years, the report reveals that in the last year, 3% of consumers who had used new substances or “legal highs”, bought them on the Internet.

However, this seemingly small number hides a disturbing reality: the numbers are much higher, if one considers certain groups and existing drugs on the Internet

. the black market an invisible network

An online survey on drug use conducted in 2015 and received more than 100,000 responses from people all over the world, showed that more one in ten consumers had bought drugs through conventional sites and sites located in the so-called “darknet”

According to the report, the “surface Internet.” – accessible through common search engines – is particularly associated with the distribution of substances not controlled (eg new psychoactive substances / legal highs, drugs, chemical precursors), or substances with legal ambiguities (eg, due to differences in national law) <. / p>

But most sales associated with illicit drugs takes place in “deep web” (invisible web) – that is inaccessible through normal search engines. It is in this most inaccessible area that markets live networks to ensure anonymity, the so-called “darknets” .

These markets are also known as “cryptomercados” because they allow the exchange products and services using digital currencies (such as Bitcoin) and digital encryption software (such as Tor) to hide the identities.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, European responsibility for Migration Commissioner, Home Affairs and Citizenship explains that “currently, you can buy online and receive by mail, virtually all types of illegal drugs, without there being any face contact between the buyer and the dealer.”

on the other hand, Alexis Goosdeel, director of the Observatory recalls that both open local consumption or trafficking of apartments, small-scale drug selling is associated with real people and real places.

“While the majority of trafficking remain firmly rooted in the physical world, virtual markets are now pushing back the frontiers of drug supply, providing a variety of options to potential buyers. This is a worrying development to the extent that digital literacy increases, technologies advance and the range of available drugs is diversified, “it stresses.

Officials show up worried about the development of this illicit market and stress that we must fight it using the same weapons.

the report points to the advantage that those responsible for law enforcement are doing the opportunities in the “web deep” : to gain experience in monitoring the online drug market, to counter the supply upsetting the markets, reduce confidence in the anonymity and prosecute sellers of “cryptomercados”

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