5 live Investigates
Out of reach of regular internet
searches is the secretive online world known as the 'dark web' - anonymous,
virtually untraceable global networks used by political activists and criminals
alike.
"You have the availability of multiple dealers so you can compare products -
and customers can review the dealer's product, too."
American student, David - not his real name - explains why he chooses to buy
illegal drugs on the so-called 'dark web'.
"You don't have to go in front of a street dealer, where there might be a
risk of violence," he adds.
And it is not just drugs which are available on this online black market.
Fake passports, guns - even child pornography.
Anonymous drug dealers
The dark web is facilitated by a global network of computer users who believe
the internet should operate beyond the supervision of law enforcement
agencies.
The
BBC's 5 live Investigates team found class A drugs and guns
for sale
It allows users like David, and those who sell him drugs, to remain
anonymous. Users often do not know the real identity of the fellow users they
are dealing with, and it is very difficult - although not impossible - for
authorities to track them.
5 live Investigates
spoke online with a number of anonymous dark web users.
One told the programme "I feel much safer [online] than doing transactions in
the real world. I used to sell drugs in the real world. Nowadays I almost
strictly use the dark web for any drug transaction."
Another said: "If you're young and trying to find a contact for drugs harder
than marijuana it is practically impossible without risking exposure and
arrest."
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We don't have enough courts, we don't have enough judges,
and we don't have enough police officers to tackle the real scale of illegal
behaviour on the internet”
End Quote
John Carr Internet security adviser
Getting access to the dark web depends on users
downloading freely available software, based on peer-to-peer file-sharing
technology, which effectively scrambles the location of users and dark web
websites.
It is not just a criminal domain, either - the dark web has proved a crucial
tool in concealing the identity of political campaigners living in countries
with oppressive governments.
It is said to have helped some of the organisers behind the
Arab Spring
protests.
That said, the potential for criminal enterprise is significant.
Researchers from the 5 live Investigates team successfully accessed the dark
web, and made a purchase of the hallucinogen DMT - a class A drug, ranking it on
a par with heroin and cocaine.
An extra layer of secrecy is added to the dark web by the use of
Bitcoins -
an electronic currency which is used legitimately by online gamers, but which
can be used by criminals to mask their financial transactions.
Continue reading the main story
Find out more
Listen to the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday, 5 February at
21:00
GMT or download the 5 live Investigates podcast
After a wait of around 3 weeks a package arrived in the
post with a Spanish postmark. Concealed between two thin strips of cardboard was
a white powder.
Analytical Services International, at St George's University of London
examined the drugs.
The lab test proved the powder was DMT - and that the dark web works.
We have no idea who sent the drugs to us. They have now been destroyed by the
lab as possession of DMT can lead to a jail sentence of up to seven years.
Dealers of DMT can face a maximum life term in prison.
But what is being done to police the criminal activity that takes place on
the dark web?
"Police officers on both sides of the Atlantic say the same thing," says John
Carr, an internet security advisor to the British government and the United
Nations.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Many people share the belief, myself included, that drugs
should be legal and the dark web is that belief put into
action”
End Quote 'David' Dark web
user
"We don't have enough courts, we don't have enough
judges, and we don't have enough police officers to tackle the real scale of
illegal behaviour on the internet.
"What that means is increasingly we're going to have to look to technical
solutions, we're going to have to look to the internet industry to help civil
society deal with this really enormous problem the dark web has created," Mr
Carr told the BBC.
"The police service is acutely aware of the large and growing problem of
cybercrime and is actively working with police nationally and internationally
along with the private sector in a bid to combat criminality on the web," says
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, the lead on e-crime for the
Association of Chief Police Officers.
Yet for all their efforts much of the illegal activity on the dark web
remains beyond the reach of the police, and to some supporters of the dark web,
its anonymity is its virtue.
They point to the protection it has offered to anti-government bloggers who
spread the message of revolution during the Arab Spring.
And they argue that it continues to provide cover for dissidents who might
otherwise face persecution in China.
For US student and dark web user David, it is about freedom of choice:
"Many people share the belief, myself included, that drugs should be legal
and the dark web is that belief put into action."
by Martin Iqbal
