How can I buy cocaine online in Zanzibar

__________________________

📍 Verified store!

📍 Guarantees! Quality! Reviews!

__________________________

▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼

▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲

How can I buy cocaine online in Zanzibar

Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Whilst drug trafficking has been a concern for several decades, wildlife trafficking has only fairly recently garnered international attention. Often media coverage of wildlife trafficking links it to the illegal trade of drugs. This article analyses wildlife and drug trafficking connections of various kinds. The purpose is to reveal the overlaps and synergies of wildlife and drug trafficking, providing concrete examples of where these markets co-exist as well as intertwine based on literature and original fieldwork. The article shows that illicit markets are complex and the examples of activities and transactions that are provided illuminate some of the different dimensions of converging and diverging trades involving wildlife and drugs. It is not uncommon for media coverage and policy discussions about the illegal wildlife trade to mention that it is linked to other forms of criminality, particularly drug trafficking South and Wyatt In other words, overlaps do not always occur — and it is interesting to consider why not? Sometimes they do — but in varied and different ways. Galemba , Shelley and Mackenzie , for example, explain how illicit trades may interact in varied ways, dependent upon the influences of globalization, new technologies and forms of communications. That paper sought to: further insights into the illegal wildlife trade through comparison with the more thoroughly studied illegal drug trade; to contribute to studies of drug trafficking by elaborating on its relationships with other forms of organized criminal enterprises; to draw together the fields of green criminology and the criminology of organized crime; and to aid in the development of prevention tactics. This paper builds upon this earlier exploratory framework, adds discussion of more recent published and grey literature, 1 and presents original fieldwork that illustrates wildlife and drug trafficking connections of various kinds. Trade encompasses the collection, harvesting, possession, processing, acquiring, or transporting of wildlife for the purpose of purchasing, importing, exporting, selling, bartering, or exchanging. For instance, a U. This paper also aims to do more to highlight the implications for species and environmental harms caused by both trades. All economic activity is ultimately based on the value of resources, and the subsequent production and trade of goods, legal or illegal, is dependent on processes of cultivation and harvesting, mining and extraction, manufacturing and distribution. These activities obviously result in legacies and consequences for environments and the non-human and human species affected. The paper explores these harms through some of the examples given. We begin by providing the background as to an overlooked importance of studying the illegal wildlife and drugs markets and their convergence. We then provide a brief overview of the two illegal markets. This is followed by proposed categories of methods and motives operating within and linking these markets, and reference to evidence for these based on original empirical data as well as the research literature. The categories are: combined contraband, camouflage, multiple trade lines, shared smuggling routes and transportation methods, barter trade, and laundering for drug money. We then speculate as to how and why these methods and motives have emerged. Although wide-ranging in scope, the original paper of South and Wyatt in was described by the authors as modest in ambition and clearly recognized the need for further research and for new ways of understanding and representing the complexity of the connections between these trades. In one respect, by signalling an aim to add to the growing literature on green criminology, it suggested how this might be achieved, but perhaps it did not make sufficiently clear why this was important. From a criminological point of view, the overlaps in smuggling, and mirroring or mingling of markets, are important areas of activity to review, but a green criminology also emphasises the threats to non-human species and environments land, water in creating and smuggling drugs and wildlife as commodities. Such areas of biodiversity are also, of course, major sources of supply of traded wildlife. Furthermore, green criminology interrogates the harms of both legal and illegal activities see Sollund among others and the blurred line between what is defined as legal or illegal, often due to the power dynamics of who determines illegality South ; White As indicated, in the following sections we will provide evidence that the convergence of wildlife and drug trafficking is a source of violence to wildlife and to the environment. Although there has been a significant increase in research devoted to wildlife trafficking this has nonetheless been relatively limited. Of course, both sets of estimates about value will be based on assumptions and may also reflect different points of time or transactions along the supply chain e. However, the dark figure of both illegal markets is notoriously difficult to uncover and, by definition, cannot be measured by official economic indicators, but only by estimates of what these might be. Whilst monetary estimates might be helpful in highlighting the suspected scale of an illegal market, they remain problematic because of their simplicity, which never captures value - intrinsic, aesthetic, cultural and so forth - other than financial. This seems particularly the case with wildlife trafficking, where living beings are reduced to vessels and commodities, and their own lives and autonomy ignored. Thus, estimations grounded in profits, criminal or otherwise, hide the environmental destruction integral to achieving the profit margins. Illegal drug cultivation is a source of deforestation, biodiversity loss, water shortages and pollution stemming from the use of pesticides to grow the drug crops as well as the chemicals used to manufacture the drugs Burns-Edel Pollution that destroys ecosystems and harms biodiversity and individual wildlife also arises from law enforcement efforts to eradicate illicit crops through aerial fumigation Rodriguez Likewise, the illegal wildlife trade and an unsustainable, parallel legal business is a source of deforestation and biodiversity loss, while demand for live wildlife and wildlife products is met through use of techniques of abduction and killing Wyatt ; van Uhm ; Moreto and Pires ; Petrossian ; Sollund The environmental harms of both trades are therefore incalculable, global and complex. Similarly, the illegal entrepreneurs engaged in these trades and markets, have become more globally mobile, traversing international borders, and operationally complex, infiltrating new illicit markets or expanding existing ones Aas ; Varese New collaborations, alliances and fluid criminal networks are developing around the world influenced by improved infrastructure in faraway regions and expanded communication opportunities Morselli ; Galeotti These trades are global, but with clear regional trends. For example, there is global demand for cocaine from Latin America, but the primary smuggling destination has been the US; forms of cannabis are produced and trafficked more widely on a global basis; opioids and amphetamines see high demand in North America and Oceania; Europe, and in particular Eastern Europe, is a primary destination for opioids. Il legal logging and timber transport fuels a continually growing market, despite awareness of the consequences of deforestation, with consistently high demand being associated with China, the US and Europe Seneca Creek and Associates ; Boekhout van Solinge et al. This illustrates that wildlife trafficking is a diverse illegal market and the intersections with the drug trade are equally diverse in an increasingly globalized world. In addition, we scrutinize academic articles and official reports by governmental agencies that were available and accessible by using Google Scholar and our University library catalogues. We also draw on original fieldwork carried out by the first author in Colombia, Laos and Myanmar Burma during — The goal of this on-going study is to understand the diversification of organized crime into the illegal trade in natural resources, by looking at the convergence between environmental crime and other serious crimes, including wildlife and drugs. At the time of writing, 67 study participants had been interviewed during fieldwork, including representatives of local communities, NGOs, and officials, as well as people directly involved in the illegal wildlife trade such as poachers, smugglers, intermediaries, traders, and suppliers. Study participants were identified using convenience sampling in all three countries and were approached due to their familiarity or involvement with the illegal wildlife and drugs trade. The participants were recruited through snowball sampling, which is useful in contacting members of a population who are difficult to access. According to Polsky , use of referrals is an effective strategy to recruit participants from the underworld and help the researcher manage any risk associated with new contacts as well giving the interviewer some level of verification and trustworthiness. Therefore, future informants were recruited from among the acquaintances of participants and through the first point of access Goodman The semi-structured nature of the interviews afforded the ability to probe for additional information, when necessary Davies et al. Most interviews were conducted in the local languages, therefore a local interpreter regularly assisted with translation. The length of the interviews varied between 30 min to 2 h in exceptional cases. As in other sensitive research on perpetrators, victims or witnesses of crimes, anonymity and confidentiality play fundamental roles in developing a relationship with informants Noaks and Wincup The identities of our study participants are concealed, or pseudonyms are used to protect participants against adverse effects and criminal prosecution. No financial compensation was provided for the participants involved, but sometimes small gifts were offered as a symbolic way to thank the respondents. Where possible, interviews were digitally recorded, but informants regularly asked not to have the interviews recorded. In such cases, comprehensive note taking ensured the recording of the data. This also resulted in more trustful situations where people were able to speak in more detail about the criminal aspects of their lives Polsky In addition to interviews, useful information was obtained through informal discussions and direct observations in the research locations, including wildlife markets. Such information was valuable in further contextualizing the data obtained during the interviews, as well as corroborating or refuting information derived from respondents DeWalt and DeWalt Initial or open coding was first performed in NVivo. Initial coding requires the careful examination of separated sections of transcribed data in order to identify similarities and differences Davies et al. To uncover overarching theoretical concepts, pattern coding was conducted on the data. Pattern coding can be employed to find patterns or relationships Maxwell The following theoretical concepts emerged: combined contraband 1 , camouflage 2 , multiple trade lines 3 , shared smuggling routes and transportation methods 4 , barter trade 5 , and laundering drug money 6. Our research has several important limitations. First, the analysis of the empirical data sheds light on the naturalistic and empirical reality of the regional case studies. Although these are limited in geographical scope, the literature research is international in breadth. Second, the fieldwork was completely dependent on the availability of participants: while in some situations, recruitment was straightforward, in others it was difficult to meet the right people who were willing to be interviewed. Third, the role of interpreters can be seen as a limitation regarding the accuracy of their translation Noaks and Wincup However, it was a great advantage that interpreters could help to clarify information in the context of the sociocultural backgrounds of the participants. We note that there are varied motives for smuggling a commodity and reasons for using particular techniques e. They do suggest that when this happens it often appears to occur in ways that we categorize as follows: combined contraband both illegal wildlife and illegal drugs in shared shipments , camouflage legal wildlife-illegal drugs in shared shipments , multiple trade lines illegal wildlife and illegal drugs, where the groups run different businesses , shared smuggling routes and transportation methods illegal wildlife and illegal drugs using the same pathways, but not at the same time , barter trade exchanging wildlife for drugs and vice versa , and laundering for drug money legal wildlife industries as a cover for illegal drug money Table 1. Mixing illegal commodities together may occur for reasons of convenience, expedience or opportunity. According to interviewees in Myanmar Burma and Laos, a recent trend of combined contraband is pangolin scales smuggled together with methamphetamine into China. He explained that sometimes methamphetamine is hidden inside pangolins which not only increases the profit, but also makes being stopped for drug checks less likely along the way. An interviewed undercover agent in Bangkok echoed this, recalling an investigation that involved a car used for methamphetamine-smuggling across the Thailand-Laos border also being used for smuggling pangolins. Then, both the formerly illegal timber and the cocaine can pass control points, showing the legitimate paperwork for timber along the way. This illustrates how different operators in legal and illegal markets can cooperate for mutual benefit from facilitating the movement of combined contraband. Further evidence of the interface between legal and illegal markets comes from instances of legal wildlife being used to smuggle illegal drugs. In such cases, smugglers may use their legitimate infrastructure to camouflage contraband by mixing it with legitimate goods Block and Chambliss Different methods of such camouflage, now well known, can be employed at different stages of the processes of cultivation, production, capture or collection and many narcotics groups have used legal wildlife as a cover in the cocaine trade. For example, legal timber has been used to camouflage the transport of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine Devlin and cocaine has also been hidden in doubled-up bags of hundreds of tropical fish BBC In the latter case, the offenders placed a small plastic bag with dissolved cocaine within a larger bag full of tropical fish and water BBC Thousands of fish were killed during a trial run without the cocaine, where the fish were left to suffocate and thousands more fish were killed whilst smuggling the cocaine. This case highlights the harm to non-human animals prevalent in trade and trafficking. There are also documented instances of parrots, sharks and boa constructors being filled with cocaine, which depending upon the species, may be legally traded. Sina et al. Study participants referred only incidentally to the camouflage method of using wildlife to hide drugs, and it was not mentioned as a common method. Perhaps this is due to the sample of respondents in the study; many interviewees were involved with high-value wildlife such as tiger, elephant and rhino products, which are trafficked rather than legally traded. However, interviewees did provide some examples and notably, an expert from Interpol and a representative of an environmental NGO in Bangkok, both highlighted that legitimate trade in animals or animal products could be used to hide drugs and distract customs officials. There are a number of cases where legal trading has indeed been used as a cover in Thailand van Uhm and Nijman Both illegally and legally harvested tropical timber has been used to smuggle cocaine hidden in the logs across the borders to avoid inspections. For example, in the s, there were several cases of drugs being trafficked together with dangerous snakes to confuse sniffer dogs and scare customs officials Chiszar et al. In addition to combining and camouflaging shipments, crime groups can run multiple trade lines simultaneously. For example, in , members of a drug running organization from Kenya pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges, including the trade of large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine. In line with the investigations above, interviewees in Myanmar Burma explained how rich Burmese methamphetamine lords in the town of Kengtung in East Shan State, known for its opium cultivation and methamphetamine production, became involved in multiple trade lines. Besides sales of methamphetamine, they pursue profitable additional sidelines in tiger skins and bones for tiger-bone wines. This shows that the trade in valuable wildlife products in such local political economies can be linked to money previously earned through other illegal businesses, which in Shan State in Myanmar is related to the historical and socioeconomic importance of drug trafficking. As observed by the first author, another example is the Special Economic Zone SEZ in Laos where high-value wildlife contraband such as tiger-bone wine, casques of helmet hornbills and rhino horns are being sold openly alongside drugs, including yaba a synthetic drug based on methamphetamine and caffeine. In particular, the Kings Romans Casino is a noteworthy market venue, where rhino horns feature among many other illegal goods. In , the United States Department of Treasury USDT placed the Kings Romans Casino on its organised crime sanctions blacklist, calling it a transnational criminal organisation engaged in child prostitution, and human, drug and wildlife trafficking. Interviewees, including two employees of the Kings Romans Casino, explained that the organisation stores and distributes both methamphetamine and illegal wildlife products, including tiger bone wines and rhino horns. Large consignments of methamphetamine seized in Thailand, and illegal wildlife trade from neighbouring countries as well as Africa, have been traced back to Kings Romans van Uhm and Wong According to illegal wildlife traders in the SEZ, the owner of the casino not only collaborates with local officials, but he also has agreements about the trade; for example, about percentages of profit paid to officials, what wildlife or drugs are offered for sale in the casino and when governmental inspections will take place. This reflects the social and power dynamics between the multifaceted criminal groups, the wildlife and drug traders and the government officials. Furthermore, Wagner et al. The illegal timber is laundered into the legal supply chain entering the US. Similarly, according to an interview with a governmental official from Jakarta, a convicted Indonesian drug lord was linked to a pangolin trafficking network over a five-year period. The crime group used company accounts to co-mingle revenue from a legal fishing company, and illegal proceeds from pangolin and drug trafficking. This illustrates how illegal profits from one crime drug trafficking are used to support further illegality wildlife trafficking , reflecting the creativity and flexibility to establish multiple trade lines. Crime groups and networks are sometimes involved in profiting from sales of both drugs and wildlife and will employ the same drugs and wildlife smuggling routes and transport methods for both Europol ; UNEP Already noticed in the s and early s, access to smuggling routes, smuggling methods or corruption established for drugs may facilitate other forms of crime van Duyne ; Naylor , including wildlife trafficking. For example, in US Customs discovered five tons of ivory in a sea container from Cameroon along with traces of narcotics. Officials stated that the crate had also been used to ship several different kinds of contraband, including drugs Nelson ; Lichtenwald et al. Indeed, the smuggling infrastructure of trafficking may be attractive for different commodities. In Shan State, wildlife traders explained how established and successful smuggling routes between Tachileik, Mong Lin, Kengtung and Mong La are more important than the commodity itself. Similarly, smugglers of drugs from Laos via the Mekong River into Thailand were said to also be involved in smuggling pangolins along the same routes. Wildlife was then smuggled in the other direction, via Laos into Vietnam, according to a wildlife expert in Vientiane. As in the Laos-Vietnam example above, an often-noted element to shared smuggling routes is that drugs may move in one direction and wildlife in the other along the same route using the same transportation. Animal backloading was familiar to Australian wildlife officials in the following way:. One way to accomplish this is to backload relatively small but rare animals that will fetch high prices in the U. Similarly, organised crime groups do not directly run all illegal activities, such as drug, human and wildlife smuggling, but control smuggling routes. A clear manifestation of the interface between wildlife and drugs as illegal commodities appears when they are exchanged for one another. For example, in the s, Colombian drug cartels would exchange drugs for endangered species resulting in cashless transfers Kazmar and planeloads of smuggled birds from Australia were being exchanged for heroin in Bangkok, with the drugs then being exported to Australia Cook et al. The relations of exchange varied from Chinese crime groups bartering methamphetamines for abalone, forging cash-free trade relationships with Cape gangs that control the local drug market, to poachers bartering abalone for drugs for resale or, alternatively, for their own consumption Brick et al. For example, cashless transactions are very hard to trace and therefore useful to facilitate illegal trades. In the jungles of Latin America and Southeast Asia, a similar connection can be found between the illegal trade in timber and the drugs trade:. Several reports associate wildlife trafficking with money laundering UNODC ; Europol , but wildlife trading may also be a cover to launder illegal money from other serious crimes, such as drug offences van Uhm ; Interpol One of the first major drug-wildlife crime cases in history, uncovered through Operation Cobra 9 , involved the head of a drug syndicate combining his cocaine trade with an exotic animal business in Miami. The case illustrates how the syndicate used the legal wildlife enterprise to launder drug money through several investments, false loans and an offshore corporation. Anybody interested come and get it. In another case, an agreement with an owner of a timber company provided a perfect cover to launder money from the sale of drugs. The owner of the timber company received the proceeds of the drug sales and then provided the drug dealers with legitimate cheques, which were placed into personal accounts. Some local timber entrepreneurs have become rich from coca trade in the region and in the past few years, a number of important cases in Panama have come to light. For instance, the owner of a Panamanian timber company received a percentage of profits from cocaine trafficking from his brother for laundering the proceeds via his company in Yaviza. The embeddedness of cocaine in the region meant that it was inevitable that some of the timber investments originated from the illegal drug trade and were the result of planned money laundering. As noted earlier, a prima facie question to consider in relation to illicit markets might be why some actors appear to remain focused on a single commodity, whilst others engage in various ways with other markets? It would be foolish to suggest that a definitive answer to this can be offered here, but the forgoing should illustrate that it is not possible to separate markets from their socioeconomic and cultural contexts and hence openings to related or parallel, legal and illegal trades. Recognising the advantages of cooperation or perceiving the promise of increased profit offered by other opportunities might provide the basis for convergence or divergence as discussed further below. Illicit markets are complex and the examples of activities and transactions that are provided above illuminate some of the different dimensions of trades and trafficking involving drugs and wildlife. One reason for a criminal enterprise to remain focused on wildlife markets and trafficking may be that they present a low risk with the possibility of medium to high rewards. Wildlife trafficking is profitable on its own. However, as it has previously received relatively little attention from customs, border agencies and police, this may mean that wildlife including fish and timber can provide tempting opportunistic hiding vectors for smuggling of other commodities. As wildlife trafficking becomes the focus of greater attention from police and security agencies Duffy , the low-risk character of this business may be diminishing. At the same time, the attraction of possibly greater reward from smuggling drugs might influence decision-making about the mixing of commodities Shelley ; Mackenzie This trend and explanation would reflect the emergence and engagement of multifaceted crime groups in wildlife trafficking that are also involved in other serious forms of crime van Uhm and Nijman ; van Uhm and Wong This illustrates the dynamic structure of some of the crime groups that are able to diversify into new forms of crime in order to adapt to socioeconomic, political and ecological circumstances. Cases examined in our analysis illustrate forms of convergence , but it should be noted that connections could also be shown by considering cases of divergence between the trades. Below we give several examples of the divergence rather than convergence detailed above of criminal groups from drugs to wildlife trafficking. Similarly, in Daluo and Mong La, two Chinese-Burmese border towns, smugglers explained how they gradually became involved in trafficking elephant skins, pangolin scales and tiger bone products influenced by internationally agreed, repressive drug policies, which illustrates the significance of geopolitical influences on diverging criminal careers van Uhm These factors have remained relatively constant in recent decades, although the dynamics of specific trades and transactions can change when the value of the wildlife commodity increases. There is, as always, a need for more empirical data collection examining any links between these two - and other - illicit markets. Further analysis would consider what lessons can be learned and whether there are synergies in enforcement and conservation efforts that need to be explored. The participants in these activities are agents and organised groups — a diverse range from significant but single entrepreneurs Haller to interacting criminal groups Bruinsma and Bernasco ; van de Bunt et al. As Aziani et al. The business trading choices and strategies discussed here are complex in terms of factors such as individual decision-making and organisational properties and dynamics and should be understood in their local political economy. This is not, however, a world that can be understood solely in economic terms. Thus, any future analysis should include the cultural elements underpinning trafficking. Nonetheless, and unsurprisingly, it is the potential for health harms to humans through transmission of zoonotic viruses that is most likely to not only lead to enhanced efforts to prevent the continuation of illegal wildlife markets, but also change the very nature of the markets due to lockdowns, travel restrictions and changing consumption behaviour following the pandemic Wildlife Justice Commission The novel nature of the virus and its rapid global spread led to renewed international recognition of the links between legal and illegal trades in various species and pathogen pandemics. Examining the convergence between trades in wildlife and drugs helps us to understand how markets interact, which is relevant for responses from the worlds of both policy and law enforcement, as well as public health and medicine. The urgency of response to zoonotic virus transmission will mean calls for, in particular, the end to illegal wildlife trade, markets and consumption. In pursuit of this, looking to the lessons to be learned from the long history of attempts to prohibit drug trafficking, markets and consumption will be advisable - although not necessarily encouraging. We are aware that there is now an enormous literature on illegal markets and trade, but for reasons of space we cannot include reference to all relevant studies here. For overviews see e. Pablo Escobar loved animals, in particular birds, explained his brother Roberto Escobar during an interview at his villa. See also Jacobs et al. The reason for this combination of contraband is unclear although rumours were reported that pangolin scales were being used as a drug substitute for methamphetamine, and also that drug networks have adopted this new commodity into their portfolio. United States v. Indictment United States v. Moazu Kromah et al. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Trends Organ Crime. Find articles by Daan van Uhm. Find articles by Nigel South. Find articles by Tanya Wyatt. Accepted Apr 12; Issue date Open in a new tab. Similar articles. Add to Collections. Create a new collection. Add to an existing collection. Choose a collection Unable to load your collection due to an error Please try again. Add Cancel. Mixing illegal commodities may be because traffickers want to smuggle both for reasons of convenience, expedience or opportunity. Spread risks and increase control and profit by dominating multiple trade lines and routes. Illegal wildlife and illegal drugs being smuggled along the same route, but at different times. Cashless transactions that are very hard to trace facilitate illegal trades simultaneously.

Connections between trades and trafficking in wildlife and drugs

How can I buy cocaine online in Zanzibar

These datasets underpin the analysis presented in the agency's work. Most data may be viewed interactively on screen and downloaded in Excel format. All countries. Topics A-Z. The content in this section is aimed at anyone involved in planning, implementing or making decisions about health and social responses. Best practice. We have developed a systemic approach that brings together the human networks, processes and scientific tools necessary for collecting, analysing and reporting on the many aspects of the European drugs phenomenon. Explore our wide range of publications, videos and infographics on the drugs problem and how Europe is responding to it. All publications. More events. More news. We are your source of drug-related expertise in Europe. We prepare and share independent, scientifically validated knowledge, alerts and recommendations. About the EUDA. Technology and innovation. Criminal tools. Innovations across a range of areas have become key enablers for criminal networks throughout the drug supply chain. These include new methods and techniques used to produce drugs, yielding higher outputs, products with higher potency or purity, and novel consumer products; and continuous advancements in the digital sphere, as seen in the ongoing adaptation of online drug distribution models. Although a number of different factors affect levels of drug production, recent innovations in production techniques and equipment have resulted in higher outputs, products with higher potency or purity, and a broader range of consumer products. For example, innovations in agronomic techniques and equipment have been applied to coca plants in Latin America, as well as industrial cannabis cultivation sites in Europe see EU Drug Market: Cannabis. In Europe, such innovations are linked to higher cannabis herb and resin outputs, higher-potency cannabis and a more diverse range of cannabis consumer products. Another key innovation in cannabis production is the continuous emergence of new semi-synthetic cannabinoids, which are made by processing naturally occurring cannabinoids such as cannabidiol see EU Drug Market: Cannabis. Innovations in cocaine production appear to have contributed to an oversupply of cocaine in the global supply chain see EU Drug Market: Cocaine. Among the innovations is the re-oxidation of cocaine base, which is a sophisticated method used in Colombia that increases the efficiency of cocaine production. Collaboration between European and Latin American networks to produce cocaine in Europe, using chemicals and equipment of higher quality, is also driving innovation in this area. Innovations in methamphetamine production are also taking place in Europe, particularly in the resolution-racemisation-recycling RRR process see EU Drug Market: Methamphetamine , which has increased the efficiency and output of methamphetamine production. Collaboration and knowledge exchange between Mexican and European criminal networks is also driving innovation and poses a key threat. While amphetamine production appears to be relatively stable and high in Europe, there have been recent signals of changes in methods see EU Drug Market: Amphetamine. In particular, the so-called nitrostyrene method may become more prominent in the future, reflecting the adaptability and resilience of synthetic drug producers, who change their methods in response to or in anticipation of changes in the availability of chemicals. Innovations in the use of chemicals and precursors have led to transformational developments in illicit synthetic drug production. In Europe, producers have shifted from the use of highly controlled drug precursors to the use of non-regulated chemicals that can be easily converted to those precursors, or even chemicals that can be directly transformed into various synthetic drugs see EU Drug Market: Methamphetamine. As well as confirming that drug producers are becoming more adept at borrowing techniques from the pharmaceutical industry and applying them to the illicit drugs trade in order to evade detection, these developments present a challenge to the international precursor control regime. A potential future threat in this area is the application of artificial intelligence and related technologies such as large language models Europol, a to identify new chemicals and molecules that could be used in illicit drug production see Box Artificial intelligence. Importantly, the pharmaceutical industry currently uses artificial intelligence in the drug discovery and development process Qureshi et al. There have also been innovations in the concealment of drugs using chemical masking. This involves modifying the drug into a new substance, which is harder to detect by customs and law enforcement agencies. For example, producers chemically conceal cocaine hydrochloride, cocaine base and cocaine paste in carrier materials such as charcoal, coco pulp and plastics. Another new modus operandi is the smuggling of heroin dissolved in liquids along the main trafficking routes for Afghan opiates to Europe see EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids. However, so far, no liquid heroin seizures have been reported in the European Union. The surface web see Figure Surface web, deep web and darknet , including legitimate e-commerce platforms and social media, is an important medium for the sale of new psychoactive substances NPS , misused medicines including falsified and counterfeit medicines , illicit drugs, drug precursors and related chemicals. Large and highly flexible criminal structures have been identified in relation to online NPS shops in particular. While this has resulted in the closure of a number of online NPS shops, it is unclear whether German retailers have stopped selling these substances altogether or have relocated to darknet markets or social media. Further monitoring, analysis and investigation are required to determine how long-lasting this effect will be. Drug sales on social media platforms appear to be gaining in prominence, but there is relatively little research exploring their place in the wider technology-based drug markets see Box European Web Survey on Drugs: information on online purchases. Furthermore, given the convenience and ease of use of these platforms, there is potential for them to amplify the various risks associated with drug use Oksanen et al. Social media includes a wide range of digital platforms designed for communication. These include image-sharing platforms, instant messaging apps and online forums. There are different levels of drug market openness across these platforms, ranging from public, where vendors make their profile publicly available, to private, where drug-related content is restricted to pre-screened users. Most social media platforms appear to be used as marketplaces for illicit drugs see Box Online ethnography: examining drug distribution on social media platforms in Europe. Yet there are significant challenges involved in designing and conducting research in this area: social media content can be temporary, fragmented and rapidly changing; and messages are almost always encrypted or otherwise difficult to access. The terminology used also changes rapidly, and, unlike darknet markets — which often have a global reach — dealers on social media are often more local, with a regional or city focus. As such, research into these activities may require language processing. Vendors on social media use captions, hashtags and emojis to enable potential buyers to search for drugs Demant and Bakken, Geographical areas of operation may also be indicated to allow potential buyers to identify local vendors Moeller, Vendors are then contacted, either through the messaging function of the platform or via instant messaging apps, to conduct the transaction. This could inform appropriate policy decisions and responses van der Sanden et al. In addition to drug sales, social media is also used to recruit low-level drug market facilitators. Accounts have been identified on Snapchat that are dedicated to the recruitment of individuals for drug-related tasks, including drug smuggling and cross-border drug transportation. Money muling has been identified in some Member States as an emerging method of money laundering Europol, b. Darknet markets have been active for more than a decade. They enable buyers and sellers to conduct transactions online with a high level of anonymity. These markets are based on a combination of digital technologies, namely anonymous communication technology e. Tor — Dingledine et al. These characteristics have made them attractive for buyers and sellers of illicit drugs. As such, it is important to understand darknet trends when developing both supply- and demand-side drug policies. Darknet markets tend to be global and operate in English, although some are focused on a particular country or language group. Although sale and trade volumes on darknet markets have fluctuated over the years, reflecting the frequent entry into and exit from the ecosystem by multiple individual markets, the darknet market ecosystem is currently considered to be active, albeit at lower levels than previously observed. A number of factors, such as more frequent scams, voluntary closures and law enforcement activity, appear to have a considerable impact on drug supply via darknet markets. Data from the monitoring period, , show a darknet market ecosystem characterised by high turnover and fragmentation. An example of this is Empire, a leading darknet market that stopped operations in August , departing abruptly and failing to fulfil pending orders. However, in late , a number of markets also voluntarily closed and exited in a relatively orderly fashion once they had achieved their profit objectives and without misleading their customers including some of the largest such as WhiteHouse, Cannazon and Torrez. Numerous new markets also appeared but were mostly short-lived, creating a highly fragmented environment. The darknet market ecosystem continues to consist of many short-lived markets see Figure Darknet markets ecosystem: lifetime and reason for closure of over global darknet markets offering drugs, sorted by date. Over the next five years, it is expected that this scene will continue to fragment. While some larger, multi-vendor, multi-commodity markets may survive, there will likely be an increasing number of vendor shops and smaller markets see Box Vendor shops. International law enforcement therefore needs to focus on these smaller markets. Closure type — the reason for a market shut-down. Market status last checked on 31 December These ongoing developments underscore the dynamic nature of darknet markets — which evolve constantly to mitigate threats and exploit new opportunities — and their ability to introduce or adopt new technologies to evade interdiction. Ongoing innovation in darknet markets, and their intersection with social media and surface web applications, has caused further complexity for monitoring and interdiction. For example, a vendor shop bot for direct sales — known as Televend — emerged in , powered by the instant messaging app Telegram and supported by a Tor vendor panel see Screenshot Televend: automated direct deals platform and Box Online drug sales automation. By adding Televend as a contact on the Telegram app and following a few additional steps, users could access a list of drug vendors. The vendor shop was operated by a bot around the clock, managing purchase requests and all administrative functions. The service provided security to vendors as well as negating the risks of distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks. Although Televend was compromised in September , it provided proof of concept for an innovative combination of darknet market and messaging app technologies for trading illicit drugs. Televend-like markets could potentially attract users who already routinely scroll through social media content and have less technological know-how than darknet market users Barratt et al. Considering the advantages for users, including convenience and a lower risk of scams, and higher protection for vendors, it is conceivable that variations of this model will emerge in future or are already operational. Other potential ways for criminals to exploit new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, may also be expected to emerge and spread in the future UNICRI and Europol, Consult the list of references used in this module. The source data for the figure Darknet markets ecosystem: lifetime and reason for closure of over global darknet markets offering drugs, sorted by date may be found below. See also this data set in our Data catalogue. Homepage Quick links Quick links. GO Results hosted on duckduckgo. Main navigation Data Open related submenu Data. Latest data Prevalence of drug use Drug-induced deaths Infectious diseases Problem drug use Treatment demand Seizures of drugs Price, purity and potency. Drug use and prison Drug law offences Health and social responses Drug checking Hospital emergencies data Syringe residues data Wastewater analysis Data catalogue. Selected topics Alternatives to coercive sanctions Cannabis Cannabis policy Cocaine Darknet markets Drug checking Drug consumption facilities Drug markets Drug-related deaths Drug-related infectious diseases. Recently published Findings from a scoping literature…. Penalties at a glance. Frequently asked questions FAQ : drug…. FAQ: therapeutic use of psychedelic…. Viral hepatitis elimination barometer…. EU Drug Market: New psychoactive…. EU Drug Market: Drivers and facilitators. Statistical Bulletin home. Quick links Search news Subscribe newsletter for recent news Subscribe to news releases. This make take up to a minute. Once the PDF is ready it will appear in this tab. Sorry, the download of the PDF failed. Table of contents Search within the book. Globalisation Globalisation Technology and innovation Technology and innovation Criminal tools Criminal tools. Search within the book Operator Any match. Exact term match only. Main subject. Target audience. Publication type. EU Drug Market: Drivers and facilitators — main page. On this page.

How can I buy cocaine online in Zanzibar