Beyond DragonLabz and Narko Wróżka, HUNTER investigators identified multiple other DTOs eluding Telegram’s censors. Some of the drug-themed channels openly advertise/mirror their services on X. Notably, these DTOs’ operating footprints span the world, with HUNTER investigators identifying Telegram drug sellers operating in jurisdictions as geographically diverse as Vietnam and Brazil.
Links To NCBI Databases
But he said people have told him they later feel regretful about risking their health and the health of others. He added that heavy drug users may be experiencing pandemic-focused paranoia and panic during crystal meth highs and comedowns. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in psychoactive substance trade on Telegram markets in the Netherlands can be observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of Telegram’s black market showed that drugs are one of many illicit products traded on the platform. Notably, Morty Smith lists 3-MMC and 4-MMC sourced from France.
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A 2018-survey established that about 7% of adults in Germany smoke weed on a regular basis, with an up going trend (German centre for health education (BZgA)). Figures for Berlin are difficult to find but it’s likely more because of how progressive Berliners have been on this matter, and how supply is usually more readily available in a capital. Border forces seized more than 1.5 tons of ketamine between 2021 and 2022 compared to an average of around 180 kilos per year over the last decade. The current kilo price for ketamine is cheaper than it was a decade ago. The huge drop in price is likely influenced by a rise in ketamine production in the Golden Triangle. I mean, I know the pigs won’t go after “5g weed @ ostkreuz” but there’s also people there buying/selling what imo are big quantities.
Germany Shuts Down Telegram-based Drugs Marketplaces
Telegram fell into disrepute some time ago and is considered by many to be the evil twin to WhatsApp. It’s where corona deniers like rightwing vegan celebrity chef Attila Hildmann and Querdenker initiator Michael Wendler began spreading their wild theories and it’s become one of the most downloaded apps. Prosecutors said the Telegram groups were used to advertise wares, while sales were conducted in private direct chats.
Should We Just Assume All Weed From Telegram Groups Is Compromised?
On Telegram requests for 2C-B type drugs, LSD, and magic mushrooms have been on the rise since lockdown. “I think it’s pointless to take ecstasy and coke in nature or at home, so psychedelics are the only option for me during this time,” one Berlin clubber and mushroom grower told me over Telegram. Demand for mushrooms shot up sharply in March and April, she said.
Links To NCBI Databases
The direction of this effect was different for different classes of substances. Resecurity’s findings reveal the resilience of industrial-scale drug trafficking networks and operations on Telegram despite the company’s pledge to crack down on illegal content, products, and services. The lingering presence of fentanyl-related commerce is particularly troubling given the massive potential for deadly harm to recreational users. Also noteworthy is the OxyContin package displayed in the menu listing. The Mundipharma packaging is the same as brand of illegally diverted OxyContin being peddled by Narko Wróżka.
But prosecutors and criminal investigators also have methods of surveillance that they do not openly talk about. In any case, at the end of October, investigators cracked down on nine Telegram groups with 8,000 members during raids across Germany, targeting the trade of drugs, weapons and forged documents. “An evaluation of messenger services does not exist,” the police inform me. It’s possible that such activities are only more noticeable during lockdown because people are at home and are using messenger apps more than before.
- Telegram could be one of the intermediary options between darknet markets and street dealing which are valued by end users according to the work by Moyle et al. 2.
- Yet the fall in prices comes despite record seizures by the authorities last year.
- Engage with like-minded individuals who share a common interest and knowledge in the drugs realm.
- When I ask in a group about where I can party, a “private pharmacist” replies that I should write to him directly.
- The messaging app has also become a key node of the drug trade in Russia, where it is used by narco bloggers who discuss different drugs and where to buy them, and increasingly in other countries such as Argentina.
The use of mephedrone, a drug already experiencing something of a comeback in the city, has increased since lockdown, according to dealers and users VICE spoke to. Based on an accumulating number of other reports on substance use and trading during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pattern observed in the presented Telegram analysis is generally comparable to what is observed 6 or expected to be found 9 elsewhere. According to a report by EMCDDA 6, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the supply side of drug trading has been limited.
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After harvesting in mid-March, she ran out of product in two weeks. On March 16, 2020, a so-called intelligent lockdown, with somewhat less strict measures than the lockdowns in some other European countries, took effect in the Netherlands as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we were already monitoring a few markets on Telegram when this lockdown became effective, this event allowed us to see if any changes in psychoactive substance trade would be reflected in the Telegram markets as well. Telegram analysis shows that in the Netherlands, online psychoactive substance trade may have been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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As no data were collected prospectively for the presented analyses and there were no participants subjected to research procedures, this study was exempted from medical ethics approval in the Netherlands. In this article, we present an evaluation of online psychoactive substance trade via Telegram, a free encrypted social media messenger service. The evaluation took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed us to monitor the effects of the spring 2020 lockdown in the Netherlands on substance trade via Telegram. More systemically, the rise of Poland as a regional synthetic drug production and trafficking hub highlights the impact of the war in Ukraine and how it has displaced and rerouted the operations and logistics of regional DTOs. Notably, numerous Polish media outlets have highlighted the growing role of Ukrainian organized crime in the local synthetic drug trade. Lockdown has also affected the drugs people are taking in Berlin.
In April 2022 border police seized what was described as a “monumental” haul of 3.7 tonnes of cocaine valued at £300 million in crates of bananas at Southampton docks. As the reader can see in the screenshot below, Dijon Pharmacy is offering fentanyl patches and nasal spray in quantities ranging in price from €140 to €825. The nature of these fentanyl products obviously suggests they have been illegally diverted as opposed to being clandestinely manufactured.
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As with the dark web, there is always the risk of being scammed, although the reliability of individual sellers and their drugs are rated, reviewed and discussed. Party drug prices are falling on the encrypted messaging app despite claims of record seizures by authorities, VICE News analysis shows. Most of the chats I encounter on my walk are about drugs.
Therefore, this study was exempted from medical ethics approval in the Netherlands. On Telegram drug buyers and sellers chat on invite-only “channels”, some of which can have tens of thousands of active members, where anything from mescaline and “pink cocaine” to mephedrone and steroids, is available to buy. Drugs are bought using crypto currency and sent in the mail.
Where Do Berliners Buy Weed?
The prevalence of Mundipharma products listed for sale on Europe-focused Telegram drug trafficking channels indicates that there are some significant breaches in the integrity of the company’s regional supply-chain and distributor network. Some Berliners are swapping their usual diet of stimulant club drugs such as cocaine, MDMA and ketamine with psychedelics. Stuart said that post-lockdown hookups are partly motivated by anxiety resulting from social isolation.
The app reveals people’s desires amidst the isolation of the corona lockdown. Some groups link to subgroups where people can talk privately. The admins write that the main chat group with a fixed location only exists in order to be found more easily. You can’t see their phone numbers – and the Russian company doesn’t reveal on which servers the pictures are stored. According to a study by the youth protection organisation Jugendschutz.net, only every tenth rightwing extremist post is taken down.
When I ask in a group about where I can party, a “private pharmacist” replies that I should write to him directly. Police investigators, on the other hand, I was told, are not allowed to request drugs in chat rooms any more than they’re allowed to ask dealers for drugs on the street. Even though the price of a gram of mephedrone has gone up from 30 to 35 euros ($33-38), the popularity of the drug could be related to the fact that it’s far cheaper than cocaine, at a time when most people have less money.
