Fentanyl availability on darknet markets
The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) has released a paper that examines the sale and distribution of fentanyl and its analogues across illicit darknet markets. The AIC’s Serious and Organised Crime Research Laboratory commissioned the research by the Australian National University Cybercrime Observatory.
- Data were collected over 84 days (from 2 January to 27 March 2019) from 64 ‘scrapes’ of six omnibus darknet markets: Berlusconi, Dream Market, Empire, Tochka, Valhalla and Wall Street.
- A small but significant fentanyl market was identified on the darknet, including large amounts of the extremely potent derivative carfentanil.
- Fentanyl products accounted for less than one percent of all drug listings. There were 9,713 unique vendors identified across the six darknet markets surveyed, of which 3% were identified as selling fentanyl. Among fentanyl vendors, 32% offered worldwide shipping (including to Australia), but another 37% did not provide details about shipping services.
- Between 27.3 and 39.3 kilograms of fentanyl and its derivatives were available over the period. The average price of fentanyl was A$99 per gram, while carfentanil was A$26.8 per gram. Fentanyl products were most commonly available in the form of patches and powder, but also pills, solutions, blotters and sprays.
- Over a third of vendors sold carfentanil and 4% sold methylfuranylfentanyl, both of which are more potent than fentanyl. From the data available, it is possible that several Australian-based fentanyl vendors are operating in these markets.
- While most vendors appear to be generalists that list many types of drugs, several vendors specialise in fentanyl and carfentanil, often selling significantly larger quantities of these drugs.
This study indicates that fentanyl may have growing significance in darknet markets and highlights the need for new ways to disrupt darknet operations and undermine the impunity of the criminals involved.
The paper is available for free download on the AIC website: https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi590
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