Fentanyl sales on the dark web have expanded rapidly, allowing sellers to offer steep discounts and causing researchers to worry it will be hard to stop, a new study finds.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Arizona at Tucson and the University of Maryland at College Park analyzed sales from Pharma Master, described as “an early and prominent fentanyl distribution ring” that sold the drug through the dark web organization AlphaBay, and published their findings in the journal Global Crime.
According to the study, AlphaBay operated from 2014 to 2017 and was considered the largest dark web marketplace at the time, with more than 200,000 users. The researchers looked at more than 5,500 drug transactions that took place on AlphaBay, finding that more than 870,000 items were sold for approximately $2.8 million. They focused in particular on Utah-based PharmaMaster, which primarily manufactured counterfeit prescription oxycodone pills that were laced with fentanyl.
Jonathan P. Caulkins, a professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College, who led the study, said in a press release that internet drug sales are likely to become even more widespread in the future.
“This raises the question: how is this different from a traditional in-person delivery system? To find the answer, we looked at how organizations operate, how much revenue they make, and what vulnerabilities they might have,” Caulkins said.
The researchers say Pharma-Master is particularly interesting because it offers insight into the organizational strategies of drug dealers in dark web marketplaces (also known as crypto markets), where cryptocurrencies are typically traded to ensure anonymity.
According to the study, PharmaMaster maintained a weekly sales growth rate of about 15 percent while it was in business in 2015 and 2016.
“By increasing order volume ten-fold, the ring reduced the price per pill of oxycodone by approximately 25 percent and the price of Xanax it was selling by 50 percent. These significant volume discounts translated into significant price increases when sold further down the distribution chain,” the press release stated.
The study authors said law enforcement will likely have a hard time blocking online fentanyl sales because drug trafficking rings are expanding rapidly.
The researchers found that online drug dealers are able to expand rapidly because they are not geographically constrained, have lower costs, and can reach many customers at once without meeting in person. Online drug dealers also operate more like law firms than “traditional” drug dealerships, in that staff have specialized roles and are run by separate owners and employees.
The researchers said their study was limited by the fact that it was unclear what proportion of AlphaBay's sales came from Pharma Master, adding that most online drug sellers are “small and short-lived” and that Pharma Master “may have been an anomaly.”
The researchers also note that the black market has changed significantly since AlphaBay operated, with most fentanyl now entering the US via Mexico or directly from China.
PharmaMaster is just one of many drug-selling businesses, said Philip C. Schicker, a co-author of the study while studying for a master's in public policy and data analytics at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College.
“Although this organization was successful, it did not last long. However, there is still great value in studying this organization because it contributed to an early increase in the production of counterfeit prescription drugs containing fentanyl, which has been the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States and Canada for several years.”
