Key findings

• Two large marketplaces remain in the wake of Operation Onymous: Agora and Evolution, with many of the other, smaller marketplaces seeing an increase in retailer numbers following the operation.
• Cannabis and pharmaceuticals continued to be the most commonly sold substances across all marketplaces, followed by MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine), cocaine and NPS, with slight variations in rank across marketplaces.
• Twenty three marketplaces were actively monitored over the period, eleven of which were first identified during the current monitoring period.
• By the final data point in this bulletin twelve marketplaces had been closed, either as a result of Operation Onymous, scams, or other reasons, reinforcing the volatility of these marketplaces.

Resources

• Drugs & The Internet Issue 4.pdf

Author(s)

Joe Van Buskirk, Amanda Roxburgh, Raimondo Bruno, Lucy Burns