By Nolan Russell and Emma Shanahan
The trafficking of drugs through dark web markets has become very common. To access the dark web, users use the TOR browser, which encrypts the user’s traffic through three random nodes to hide any identifying information, such as names or IP addresses. This allows anyone visiting the dark web to keep their locations and identities private, a vital component for those looking to visit drug markets. These markets can ship products anywhere in the world, meaning there is a much larger user base than traditional means of sale. In this paper, we focus on the sale of cocaine to the United States through dark web markets and what countries are most frequently the source of cocaine sales. We compare the price per gram of the cocaine listings we collected and how they differ between regions. We also analyze which countries were the original supplier of the cocaine and how the products may have gotten to the supplying country.
Background:
Cocaine is a stimulant drug extracted from the coca leaf native to parts of South America. Although cocaine is often commonly associated with South American cartels and other brutal criminal organizations, cocaine has been historically documented to have been used originally for medicinal purposes by Inca and other South American native tribes, as well as earlier Europeans and American communities (Karch 2006). Prior to many realizing the addictive and hazardous effects of the drug, cocaine remained a legitimate product, with the coca trade viewed as a “perfectly acceptable way to develop the local economy” in parts of South America in the 1800s and early 1900s due to the drug being government-sanctioned in most parts of the world. By the mid-1900s, however, world governments began to ban the development and trading of cocaine it forced production to the black market (Karch 2006). Multiple evolutions of the drug have seen it dominate world markets even further; such was the case in the early 1980s, with the invention of crack cocaine: cheaper, semi-refined cocaine that enters the bloodstream at a more rapid rate, allowing for a more potent high. What began as a local trend in Bolivia and Brazil quickly spread northward to Central America, the United States and beyond (Karch 2006). Between more effective methods of extraction, more efficient international trade and smuggling methods, and more potent features, the cocaine trade remains a prominent feature in the world of illegal narcotics and a constant challenge for public health and law enforcement officials.
Methodology:
To gather our data, we analyzed five different dark web drug markets and extracted 56 different cocaine listings from 26 distinct accounts. Four of the documented suppliers were from sites that, while they may have sold multiple different products and in different quantities, were operated by that singular supplier, with no listings from outside individuals. The other 22 suppliers that we documented were from OsirisMarket, an online drug market that, at the time of writing, facilitates the sale of various forms of illicit narcotics and prescription drugs via different accounts offering their own separate services, similar to bright web sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. Additionally, three of the documented accounts selling cocaine on OsirisMarket had distinct listings for cocaine sales from multiple different countries of origin, which was also notated in our documentation. For each listing, we noted the country of origin, the shipping destination or destinations, the price of the listings, and the username of the seller. We also noted where the supplier was getting their product, if that information was provided to potential customers by the supplier.
Analysis:
Fig. 1: Country of Origin vs. Price Per Gram of Cocaine on Different Online Drug Markets
After analyzing the countries of origin and the price per gram listings of every supplier, we were able to determine a median price of 61 USD per gram of cocaine, with the mode value being only 11 USD lower at 50 USD per gram. Due to what we believe to be a combination of some users charging more for international shipping as well as user error when listing the price of larger quantities of cocaine on OsirisMarket, the average was not an accurate representation of the dataset due to the presence of outliers. When listing cocaine offerings on OsirisMarket, prices are listed in price per product, often per gram, with the option of listing different prices for different quantities of purchase (ex. 55 dollars for one gram or 250 dollars for 5 grams). Some listings had what we believe to be a misinput, with the higher price being listed as the price per gram, rather than the total price, which we believe was the intended value. Despite what we believed their pricing to actually be, we kept the listing as is with the outliers, leaving us with a maximum value of 560 USD per gram and a minimum of 21.79 USD per gram, leaving us with an average price per gram of 105.31 USD, much higher than the median and mode values. Visualizing the data, Figure 1 shows the country of origin and the price per gram of each listing, with the data points organized by the market we took the listing from. The green OsirisMarket dots account for most of the listings due to the site being the source of most of our recorded suppliers, with 22 of the listed suppliers being documented from OsirisMarket as opposed to outside independent sellers. Looking at this graph, we can see that the US is the most common country of origin for the cocaine listings we analyzed. Germany, the UK, and France were the next common countries of origin for cocaine. There was one market that sold from both Germany and France and one user from OsirisMarket selling from Australia. There was one user from the OsirisMarket that also sold from the Netherlands along with one market, the TomandJerry market, that also sold from the Netherlands.
Fig. 2: Country of Origin vs Price Per Gram of Cocaine Based on Shipping Destination
Figure 2 shows the country of origin and price per gram of each listing and visualizes the data by the shipping destination of each listing. The data shows that international shipping is very common for the majority of listings we analyzed. Domestic shipping was not as common because offering international shipping opens the supplier up to a larger customer base.
Out of the data we gathered, the United States (US) was the most common country of origin for cocaine listings. The US has been a large hub of activity regarding cocaine trafficking, and the US is the largest market for cocaine in the West. The US is near many of the Latin American countries where cocaine comes from, alongside the US’s numerous port cities that also receive cocaine from Europe. Cocaine tends to come into the country from Latin America through the southern border and through the Atlantic coast through port cities like Miami, traveling fast throughout the country along the major highway systems, spreading the drug from the south and southwest to the Midwest and northern states (Chandra et al. 2014). Cocaine is also commonly trafficked out of interior cities further away from the southern border, such as Atlanta and Chicago. From the data we collected, 16 users operating on OsirisMarket were from the US. These listings had varying prices per gram, ranging from 30 USD per gram to 560 USD per gram. These differences in prices could possibly be explained due to the region they originate from. The closer to the border a seller operates from, the higher the prices could be. The listings that had higher prices could have been near the southern border where the cocaine comes from and therefore had more of a “fresh” product to sell and less risk of tampering during shipping. There was one independent market, the People’s Drug Store, which was operating in and supplying cocaine to the US. The prices on this market were around the mode and median prices, at 60, 55, 50, and 46 USD per gram. An interesting thing about this market is that it had a lot of amenities that can be found on the larger markets, such as an “about us” section, ads for special sales, FAQs, the ability to track your shipment, free shipping to the US and Canada, and the ability to look at seller ratings. These features make the market more trustworthy in the eyes of buyers and can increase sales on that market (Andrei 2024).
Germany was the second-most common country of origin for the listings we gathered. Germany has a few important port cities that allow it to receive shipments of drugs from other regions of the world. Additionally, Germany’s methods of dealing with drug users is substantially different from many other parts of the world. Under German Law, unauthorized possession of illicit narcotics is still a criminal offense, but if the intent of the user is not to distribute, there is a good chance that the case will receive some sort of administrative, social, or medical resolution, rather than a full judicial trial or incarceration like many other nations due to Germany’s response to drug trafficking being more focused on preventing addiction (Golubovsky, et al. 2022) . Looking at listings collected from our data gathering, four of the suppliers of drugs to the US and international community were from Germany: three from OsirisMarket and one independent supplier with their own site. One of these listings was from an account named “ItalianMafia”, which had three listings on OsirisMarket, two normal listings for at least one gram priced at 94 USD and 64.61 USD per gram, and one for bulk sales, priced at 43 USD per gram for the purchase of at least 100 grams. The reason for the discrepancy between prices for sales of at least one gram is not immediately clear but could possibly be due to shipping or regional differences. The other two German accounts on OsirisMarket are “FlaminGuy” and “YvnTrio”, with sale prices of 190 USD and 90 USD per gram, respectively, putting it well above the median and mode values. Like the “ItalianMafia” listings, the reason for the discrepancy in pricing for the same product is not immediately known. One additional aspect to note about these two accounts is that, while parsing OsirisMarket for additional cocaine listings, we came across additional cocaine listings from these accounts with the country of origin being different from the original listing, with both accounts also having active listings supplying cocaine from the United Kingdom and the “FlaminGuy” account additionally supplying cocaine from Australia as well. This could possibly indicate that a single individual is operating the account and has connections to other individuals in multiple different countries capable of supplying cocaine worldwide. It could also indicate that multiple individuals from different countries are simultaneously utilizing the account to supply cocaine to potential buyers from their respective countries. The final supplier that we identified from Germany was the market “BitPharma”, supplying various illicit narcotics including cocaine from both Germany and France with multiple listings with different prices depending on the quantity of cocaine purchased. In this case, the supplier offered multiple pricing options, with 87.50, 152, 292, and 1108.32 USD for one gram, two grams, five grams, and 25 grams respectively, putting it decently above the median and mode prices observed in our collections. The fact that Germany had the second highest number of suppliers to the United States and the international community of the suppliers documented in our observations could be a result of more lenient drug-related criminal punishments and a lesser emphasis on judicial consequences and incarceration.
France also has a large market for cocaine and has been identified as an increasing transit route to sell cocaine to the US and the rest of Europe. France’s biggest port, the Port of Le Havre, has been the main entry point for cocaine coming into and leaving France, and for entering the rest of Europe. There have also been reports of cocaine coming into France through Spain, which sometimes receives the drugs from smugglers utilizing more creative smuggling technology such as submersibles (Weerth 2020). Drug trafficking arrests charges have increased over the past ten years in France, although seizures from Le Havre have decreased a bit due to increased security. The pricing of cocaine in France is another reason it has become a popular destination for those purchasing cocaine. Since 2022, the retail price of cocaine has stayed around 65-66 EUR (around 75 USD), falling from 130 EUR (152 USD) in 2012 (Sahli 2025). This decrease in pricing means it is easier for people who are looking to purchase cocaine and could indicate a large supply of cocaine in-country. In gathering data, we found two suppliers on OsirisMarket who were operating out of France. These suppliers operated accounts under the names “Frenchtown” and “xPNLx”. The listings from these users were 75 USD per gram and 45 USD per gram for 500 grams, and 49 and 27 USD per gram for at least one gram. A note about the French user “xPNLx” is that one of their listings was only listed in measurements of kilos (27,000 USD for 1 kilogram). This means that the user had a large amount of cocaine in their possession and could have a large presence on the market. The prices of these listings were slightly higher than the median and mode prices that we found. Additionally, there was one independent market supplying cocaine from France: BitPharma, the same market also supplying cocaine to individuals in the US and worldwide from Germany. The pricing for this market has been listed above. The fact that this market operates from two different countries could indicate that the users running it have a more developed shipping capability than other independent markets or may have connections in multiple countries.
The UK is another popular site for cocaine trafficking in the international market. Across Europe in recent years, there have been elevated concerns towards the use of illicit and harmful drugs due to their increasing availability on illegal marketplaces (Antoine, et al. 2020). The United Kingdom (UK) has been feeling this stress as well, with roughly 18% of all drug-addiction-related treatments being for those whose primary drug of use was cocaine. (Antoine, et al. 2020), this has risen to 19% in recent years, showing that cocaine usage remains a relevant problem for law enforcement and public health officials in the UK (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities 2024). Through our observations, we were able to identify three suppliers who had listings for drugs being supplied from the UK. Two of these suppliers were on OsirisMarket, while one was an independent supplier with their own market. The two suppliers on OsirisMarket operated under the same “FlaminGuy” and “YvnTrio” accounts as the German suppliers, possibly indicating either one individual managing each account with connections in multiple countries or multiple individuals from different countries utilizing those accounts to supply cocaine from their respective countries. Both the “FlaminGuy” account and the “YvnTrio” account both had one cocaine listing each for a similar price of 89 USD and 80 USD per gram respectively. These listings are much more similar in price to each other than their respective German cocaine listings were, though they are still decently above the median and mode prices.
Australia’s cocaine market has remained small compared to other countries, mainly because they are farther away from the countries that traditionally produce cocaine and the market for other illicit drugs, such as cannabis and amphetamines (Shearer 2005). Traditionally, the main ways cocaine was being transported into the country was through small aircraft deliveries and small ships (Shearer 2005). In line with this more limited operation, when we were finding data, we only found one account operating out of Australia. This account was the same “Flaminguy” account that was also facilitating the sale of cocaine to the United Kingdom and Germany. Notably different from their other listings, this listing was only offered in sets of five grams, with the listing being offered for a total of 1,225 USD, coming out to 245 USD per gram. This is a very high price compared to the mode and median values, which are 50 USD and 61 USD, respectively. This jump in price compared to the rest of our data could possibly be explained by how far Australia is from the Western cocaine markets or other shipping complications.
Like many other members of the international community, the Netherlands has had its fair share of struggles combatting the trade of illicit narcotics, especially cocaine. The port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, has been well known in recent years as playing “a central role in international drug trafficking,” providing international criminal organizations an avenue for transporting drugs to the European region (Bisschop, et al. 2020). Despite this, during our data gathering process, we only came across two accounts supplying cocaine to the United States and international community from the Netherlands. One supplier operated on OsirisMarket under the account name “Firefly” and was the supplier for only one listing on the site. The listing on the site communicated a set price of 55 USD per gram of cocaine. The other supplier ran the “TomandJerry” dark web drug market and featured prices of 53, 46, and 41 USD per gram of cocaine.
Some of the listings we analyzed stated where they got their product from, which was from somewhere in Latin America. The most common countries we found included in the descriptions of product listings were Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. These countries are the biggest producers of cocaine, mainly because the coca leaf grows naturally there. Colombia plays an especially important role in the production and trafficking of cocaine, as it is “the linchpin of the Latin American drug trade. The country is not only a source of coca leaf but is also the region’s largest processor and distributor of refined cocaine…” (Lee III 1985-1986). Given these international trends, most, if not all, of the cocaine that was being offered on the listings that we viewed likely originated somewhere in South America, even if the dark web supplier did not explicitly mention it in the description. The inclusion of where the cocaine was coming from may have impacted the pricing and the appeal of the cocaine, as cocaine coming from a certain country or area may be seen as having a higher value. With this in mind, understanding Latin America’s role in the trafficking of cocaine is vital to a better understanding the various ways cocaine gets trafficked and sold into the US.
Conclusion:
Selling drugs through dark markets has become very popular and shows no signs of slowing down. Due to the anonymous nature of these markets, they are a very attractive option for drug sellers and buyers, especially in the United States, where there is a very large market for the sale and trafficking of cocaine. We found that most of the cocaine that is sold on the dark web to US buyers comes from domestic sources within the US who get their products from overseas. Following international trends and the information given by some suppliers, the most common producers of the cocaine that came into the US and was being sold on the dark web were Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. The use of the dark web to buy and sell drugs is something that is likely to continue, making it vital for law enforcement to understand how these markets work and how the drugs are getting into the country in order to more effectively defend against the trafficking of illegal narcotics in the future.
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[AB1]Please fix/add this citation at the end. @Russell, Nolan
[RN2]Done! Sorry, the source was already in the bibliography but it had three authors and the one in the in-text citation was not the first one alphabetically like the bibliography had it.