Several high-profile arrests of drug dealers have taken place in Russia in recent days – batches of tens of kilograms of synthetic substances have been seized. Sources of Izvestia in law enforcement agencies report the defeat of the holders of several trading platforms on the dark web. How things are today with drug dealers and where their interests are directed – in the material of Izvestia.
Opened an abscess
At the end of February, it became known about the success of the officers of the 16th department of the GUNK MVD: as a result of a series of operational measures and investigative actions, the alleged leader of the criminal community and 11 other active participants fell into the hands of the drug police. According to Izvestia’s source, 130 kg of narcotic and psychotropic substances and over 600 kg of precursors were seized. The detectives liquidated a laboratory with expensive pharmaceutical equipment for the production of “chemistry”. One of the significant successes of the operation is the destruction of five online stores on the dark web.
The 32-year-old community organizer is known to have started operations no later than December 2019. In the structure of the “business project” of the young man there were carriers, hoarders, warehouses. Over time, the organization had separate branches operating in the Moscow region (Stupino, Ozery), Oryol and Kursk regions. Part of the functions in the community was taken over by anonymous separate structures for a monetary reward. And yet, the operatives managed to establish the identity of the person behind the “outsourcing” support – a 33-year-old man is wanted.
Some of the defendants are already in custody, five more are still under house arrest. There are two women among those under investigation.
“The accomplices committed at least 20 particularly serious crimes in the field of drug trafficking,” the source said. In addition to articles on drug trafficking, investigators charged two detainees with the creation of a criminal community, and other members with participation in it.
How to catch a marketplace owner
It is believed that the owners of marketplaces are almost impossible to catch. But this is a myth, explains a retired colonel of justice, an expert on international drug trafficking Sergei Pelikh.
— The search and identification of store owners is indeed a difficult process that requires well-coordinated work of government agencies and financial institutions. The difficulty lies in the fact that the main beneficiaries act through a system of intermediaries at the stages of the movement of funds from the buyer to the final owner. Fictitious (issued to third parties) payment instruments are used – earlier QIWI wallets were in use, and today crypto wallets. But their number is also finite, and as a result, funds flow into one or more accounts. And then they are taken out in the same fan. Roughly speaking: they accumulate, crush and cash out. Today, this is often done through crypto exchanges. Cashing out is carried out by “drops” – people (often from asocial groups) who collect funds for a small commission, provide their personal data for operations, etc. Cryptocurrency has untied the hands of organized crime even more, you can open several accounts for one number.
The expert considers the “darknet-crypto-exchange” linkage to be the main tool for the further development of organized crime.
— Not only remote anonymous drug trafficking is developing, bitcoins are increasingly becoming the currency of corruption schemes. And large-scale, transnational. And the prospects for using anonymous payment instruments in the criminal world are quite frightening, the specialist adds.
We don’t need that kind of progress.
“Estimations of experts, including foreign ones, agree that in Russia the use of digital technologies in drug trafficking is ahead of the rest,” says Sergey Pelikh. But there is nothing to be proud of here. This experience is being extended to other countries.
One example of the “digitization” of drug crime under the influence of Russian-speaking drug dealers is observed in Georgia. Earlier, a report by the national police for the past year was released, according to which the number of cases of drug trafficking is growing. A record number of detained drug dealers is noted (202 people were detained): 12 drug stores were closed and 62 online traffickers of illegal substances were caught. The country has seen an increase in outdoor advertising of marketplaces on the dark web. The security forces attribute this to the influx of relocators from Russia and Ukraine, they specify thematic telegram channels.
In November 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported the arrest of more than 10 people for illegal trafficking in prohibited substances, including local residents, citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The statement specified that the special operation was carried out in Tbilisi, Batumi and other cities of the republic.
– In countries with a small population, such as Georgia, until recently, drug trafficking was built on the principle of “hand to hand,” says Sergey Pelikh. – In European states, it has long been looked at through their fingers. Drugs can be ordered almost along with pizza. But now there is a trend towards an increase in remote supply, and volumes are also growing. Why is this needed? Then, in order to crush the drug market in a particular country from competitors.
Why is the fight against marketplaces important?
The data obtained by investigators as part of serious exposures of drug stores and their beneficiaries provides installation information on other smaller dealers, as well as on service personnel: hoarders, warehouse administrators, drug labs, according to the current operative of the metropolitan drug enforcement unit.
– Of course, employers always have comprehensive information on their wards. Phone number, personal data, photo. It would seem that the risk is obvious, but young people responding to ads for six-figure earnings of a drug courier do not always understand this. The employer can simply “drain” the servants. So sometimes it happens – the detectives receive anonymous information about the treasure. Often this is the result of drug wars or settling scores. But, of course, we do not leave such signals unattended. Checking with all the consequences is being carried out. This is a direct path to prison and beyond. Such compromising evidence can surface after many years and greatly complicate the life of a person who has matured a long time ago and tied up with crime.
