Yesterday @GI_TOC published a report co-written by @Narcomania and myself that examines what is going on with the Russian Darknet trade. I want to share 10 key points this report lays out that sets Russian DNMs apart from their Western counterparts 🧵:

(whispers) are any of yall working today or is this just gonna sit there unreported?

Mexico kills top drug cartel leader ‘El Mencho’

What do we know from The Loop’s 2025 testing? * 1 pill is not 1 dose: average pill strength = 192mg MDMA (nearly 2 adult doses) * Pills are high & variable strength: containing 1-3 doses or more * Adulteration is low * None were nitazenes #TakeQuarterSipWater #DontDoubleDrop

🎥 He ran one of the most secure darknet markets the world had ever seen. MILLIONS in profits. Hundreds of millions in volume. Years undetected. Then he shut it down, on purpose... No takedown. No exit scam. Just silence. This is the story of White House Market👇👇📽

🚨Archetyp Market has been seized by law enforement

Europol announces Operation RapTor, built on intelligence from the takedowns of darknet markets Nemesis, Tor2Door, Bohemia, and Kingdom. Raptor shows how market shutdowns compound over time - each one adding to a growing pool of intelligence that leads to even bigger results.

Pygmalion Down: A well-known DNM vendor store has been taken down by BKA. BKA claim they have forensic data on over 7000 orders. Pygmalion's team have posted on Dread and claim they will return

1/ An investigation into the alleged identity of the mysterious Hyperliquid whale tied to illicit activity that profited ~$20M via highly leveraged positions over the past couple weeks.

⚠️Narcoogle: A Darknet Market Search Engine that allows you to search over 2,250+ Vendors, see 500,000+ Reviews, and 875,000+ Total Sales! Onion: http://narcooqom5mfevbeb6gck5tg5y2g2f5grywcu7cp4b3bvsmlvph66wqd[.]onion Clearnet: https://narcoogle[.]cc

Another example of the hi-tech dynamics of Russia's drug trade. Our @GI_TOC report, co-authored by @Narcomania and myself, delves into the rise of darknet markets and their audacious methods. Read more:

Legal expert @reesjjohnson of @EssexLawSchool has spoken to members of parliament ahead of this week's vote on the Assisted-Dying Bill. Dr Johnson said the bill has the potential to exacerbate existing healthcare inequalities for minorities. https://t.co/hTrIl0vDR1

Vive le France 🇫🇷 French radio covered ⁦@Patrick_Shortis⁩ and my report for ⁦@GI_TOC⁩, ‘Breaking Klad’, on Russia’s bizarre drug trade

Lastly, thank you to all of those who spoke to us for this report, despite the dangers involved. Those interviews provided the critical confirmation for much of what we were seeing, and pointed to many insights we almost missed. Read the report here:

Another huge thank you to my employer @trmlabs who supported this effort with data and insights. Deep thanks also to my long-time colleague and friend Alois Afilipoiae who's expertise was critical to interpreting the on-chain data and double-checking some of our findings.

Big thanks to our research team @kaganskikh and @Narco_Polo420 for conducting so many interviews and verifying our findings. Thanks also to the team at https://t.co/0qoPVLz64j including @Galeeff, and V. Todorov. Huge thanks also to @GI_TOC's editors and reviewers.

We worked hard to verify everything we reported with court documents, interviews, digital guides and artifacts from the markets themselves, as well as blockchain data, resulting in about 200 references. On this note, some kudos are in order.

10. Growth: The dead drop model is spreading. In Ukraine, Georgia and other countries bordering Russia the model has been active for years. However it has started to pop up in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Korea, Greece, Hungary and Sweden amongst others.

9. Arrests: Russian drug sentences are harsh, and overwhelmingly the people going to jail are couriers while market operators and store owners go free. Thousands are in prison on multi-year sentences for their involvement in Russian darknet markets.

8. Violence: Western darknet markets rarely see violence occurring between participants, as the drugs go from dealer to doorstep via Royal Mail. In Russia, online shops hire violent thugs called "sportsmen" who beat couriers for suspected theft and film it on telegram.