[h=1]Here's What It's Like To Buy Drugs On Three Anonymous Online Black Markets[/h] 
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The hardest part of scoring drugs in the age of the digital black market? Choosing among all the consumer-friendly websites ready to sell them.
As I was reporting my profile of the Dread Pirate Roberts, the entrepreneur behind the booming Silk Road black market for illegal drugs, Forbes tested the Bitcoin-based drug-buying process on the three most well-known online anonymous black markets: The Silk Road, Atlantis and Black Market Reloaded. Though we purchased only small amounts of marijuana, harder drugs such as heroin and crack seemed to be just as readily available.
A cautionary note: Don’t try this at home. Buying most of these sites’ drugs is illegal under U.S. federal law. Despite its creators’ best efforts, the Tor anonymity software necessary to access the sites doesn’t offer perfect privacy. Nor does Bitcoin, the crypto-currency they use for transactions.
Our results were mixed, and far from scientific, since we made only one buy per site, and each site hosts dozens or hundreds of vendors. (The sites’ third-party seller model is more akin to eBay and Etsy than Amazon or Zappos.) We also couldn’t test the quality of the products–Our lawyer insisted we destroy them. (See video below.) But this much is clear: the age of narcotics e-commerce has arrived.
[h=2]Silk Road[/h] Product: Grape God, One Gram
Vendor: The DOPE Man
Price: $24*
Shipping time: 6 business days
Packaging: Double vacuum seal
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
Consumer experience: Not ideal. The DOPE Man insists customers release their payment escrow before the product arrives, despite Silk Road’s rules to the contrary.
[h=2]Atlantis[/h] Product: Snow White Kush, One Gram
Vendor: Adventure Time Supplies
Price: $23*
Shipping time: 2 business days
Packaging: Triple vacuum seal
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
Consumer experience: Impressive. Adventure Time ships its pot fast.
[h=2]Black Market Reloaded[/h] Product: Pre-rolled Joints of Haze, .5 Grams
Vendor: Dr. Earnhardt
Price: $9*
Shipping time: Never arrived
Packaging: N/A
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
Consumer experience: Poor. Dr. Earnhardt, based in the Netherlands, was the only vendor we found on BMR selling small amounts of marijuana. The package may have been caught by customs.
*Approx. based on early July Bitcoin values.
—
Follow me on Twitter, and pre-order the upcoming paperback edition of my book, This Machine Kills Secrets: Julian Assange, the Cypherpunks, and Their Fight to Empower Whistleblowers, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice.
15 comments, 7 called-out
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15 comments, 7 called-out
Comment Now Follow Comments
The hardest part of scoring drugs in the age of the digital black market? Choosing among all the consumer-friendly websites ready to sell them.
As I was reporting my profile of the Dread Pirate Roberts, the entrepreneur behind the booming Silk Road black market for illegal drugs, Forbes tested the Bitcoin-based drug-buying process on the three most well-known online anonymous black markets: The Silk Road, Atlantis and Black Market Reloaded. Though we purchased only small amounts of marijuana, harder drugs such as heroin and crack seemed to be just as readily available.
A cautionary note: Don’t try this at home. Buying most of these sites’ drugs is illegal under U.S. federal law. Despite its creators’ best efforts, the Tor anonymity software necessary to access the sites doesn’t offer perfect privacy. Nor does Bitcoin, the crypto-currency they use for transactions.
Our results were mixed, and far from scientific, since we made only one buy per site, and each site hosts dozens or hundreds of vendors. (The sites’ third-party seller model is more akin to eBay and Etsy than Amazon or Zappos.) We also couldn’t test the quality of the products–Our lawyer insisted we destroy them. (See video below.) But this much is clear: the age of narcotics e-commerce has arrived.
[h=2]Silk Road[/h] Product: Grape God, One Gram
Vendor: The DOPE Man
Price: $24*
Shipping time: 6 business days
Packaging: Double vacuum seal
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
[h=2]Atlantis[/h] Product: Snow White Kush, One Gram
Vendor: Adventure Time Supplies
Price: $23*
Shipping time: 2 business days
Packaging: Triple vacuum seal
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
[h=2]Black Market Reloaded[/h] Product: Pre-rolled Joints of Haze, .5 Grams
Vendor: Dr. Earnhardt
Price: $9*
Shipping time: Never arrived
Packaging: N/A
How it was advertised (left) versus what we got:
*Approx. based on early July Bitcoin values.
—
Follow me on Twitter, and pre-order the upcoming paperback edition of my book, This Machine Kills Secrets: Julian Assange, the Cypherpunks, and Their Fight to Empower Whistleblowers, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice.
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- JoelGoodson2012 4 months ago
Nellie Bly type journalism, very interesting.
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Very interesting. You assert: “Despite its creators’ best efforts, the Tor anonymity software necessary to access the sites doesn’t offer perfect privacy. Nor does Bitcoin, the crypto-currency they use for transactions.”
…yet you do not support this assertion at all. How did you detect that Tor and Bitcoin did not protect your privacy? What could they do to improve your services? What privacy information of yours was compromised by using Tor and Bitcoin?
Or did you conclude without explaining to us that having drugs shipped to your shipping address (information that you conveyed on purpose) was a ‘violation’ of your privacy?
Using Tor and Bitcoin securely, privately, anonymously does require that you make some wise choices for yourself. If you make such choices wisely, then your privacy and anonymity are greatly enhanced.
If end-to-end security and privacy were so perfect as to be totally risk-free, then nobody could ‘talk’ to anybody and no commerce (even the legal kind) could ever take place. Haven’t you ever heard any of the experts say that it’s not about perfect security, but about managing your risk to acceptable levels?
The fact that you make such assertions about the privacy of Tor and Bitcoin without a word of supporting evidence means that when I see your byline in the future, I will *very* deeply discount what you have to say.
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I would think that claiming that Tor and Bitcoin offer perfect security is an extraordinary claim that would require extraordinary evidence. Not the other way around. The purpose of this post (which is written to accompany a larger story) is not to examine Tor’s and Bitcoin’s security in detail, which is an immense and well-trodden subject. I’m sure you can read about this on your own, and if at the end of your reading you believe Tor and Bitcoin offer perfect security, feel free to discount what I write however you’d like.
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