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German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

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Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#131

Post by Nextgrid »

nullsense wrote: post #110
Nextgrid wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Sensible) drug use doesn't hurt anyone else though. Most of the violence surrounding drugs is because the lack of a legal supply chain for it.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Pc8NyKMjaV3MNPyu8 Tell it to that kid.

But this happened in the current situation where the drugs are considered illegal, so clearly keeping drugs illegal isn't effective at preventing these occurrences, in addition to inciting violence.

Decriminalizing drugs wouldn't fully solve the problem of drug abuse either but at least it would significantly reduce the violence surrounding the field, so that's still a net win in my opinion.

How many people are hurt because of irresponsible drug use itself compared to being collateral damage as a result of the current (illegal) drug supply chain powered by gangs and violence? I bet the latter is much bigger and decriminalizing drugs would reduce that significantly.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#132

Post by Tenoke »

capableweb wrote: post #127
Tenoke wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount sold on these markets is tiny, however they are one of the safest ways to purchase drugs - with reviews, reputation, tests etc. Constantly interfering with the safest ways to buy drugs so people have to instead buy it from a random person in the real world with less guarantees, and more danger to everyone or from an online scammer that just popped up is not good at all. Further, the costs of these LE opera…

> up is not good at all I think that's the point. As far as I understand their reasoning (although I don't agree with it), is that some people buy drugs when they are easily accessible over the internet, but wouldn't do so if they have to meet risky people in person AFK. Of course, people who want drugs will get drugs, somehow, and if it's safer, that'd be better. But they want people to move into the riskier meat-sp…

It's not even remotely believable that this is anywhere near an efficient way to eventually catch people irl instead of just spending all those resources on irl operations in the first place.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#133

Post by FDSGSG »

forgingahead wrote: post #20
Scoundreller wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> given a long enough timeline There's an opportunity. Marketplaces that will exist for X days only.

Unlikely - ever tried to get a gambler on a winning streak to "stop while he's ahead"?

This is most markets. Arrests of market operators are not very common, usually they exit at some point and are never heard of again.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#134

Post by waste_monk »

cm2187 wrote: post #118

I get how these market places are used for digital goods (malware, credit cards), but I don’t understand how people can trade physical goods on those. If they have to exchange products, they must either meet in person or use the mail, either is trackable by the authorities. I see how the seller can protect himself for local transactions. He could leave the goods hidden somewhere and tell the buyer where to go. But th…

From an article [1] I read here a while ago:

"""

Now, goods are hidden in publicly accessible places like parks and the location is given to the customer on purchase. The customer then goes to the location and picks up the goods. This means that delivery becomes asynchronous for the merchant, he can hide a lot of product in different locations for future, not yet known, purchases. For the client the time to delivery is significantly shorter than waiting for a letter or parcel shipped by traditional means - he has the product in his hands in a matter of hours instead of days. Furthermore this method does not require for the customer to give any personally identifiable information to the merchant, which in turn doesn’t have to safeguard it anymore. Less data means less risk for everyone.

The use of dead drops also significantly reduces the risk of the merchant to be discovered by tracking within the postal system. He does not have to visit any easily to surveil post office or letter box, instead the whole public space becomes his hiding territory.

...

To prevent theft by the distribution layer, the sales layer randomly tests dead drops by tasking different members of the distribution layer with picking up product from a dead drop and hiding it somewhere else, after verification of the contents. Usually each unit of product is tagged with a piece of paper containing a unique secret word which is used to prove to the sales layer that a dead drop was found.

"""

It's worth reading the entire article for more detail, the business model is quite clever.

[1] https://opaque.link/post/dropgang/

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#135

Post by transpostmeta »

inglor_cz wrote: post #109
Tepix wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is a big problem in Germany: 3 million people with alcohol issues and 74,000 yearly deaths.² Weed is considered less of a problem by the scientific community. The logical conclusion: Increase taxes on alcohol and legalize weed. -- ² https://www.dhs.de/suechte/alkohol/zahlen-daten-fakten

> Increase taxes on alcohol Illegal production of homebrewn alcohol is a thing and has been for centuries. Raising taxes at will does not mean that everyone will, unhappily, continue to buy expensive alcohol in the store. There is a limit after which people will start to produce their own moonshine, which is less safe than whatever you buy legally. Or start drinking various chemicals that resemble alcohol. (Window cl…

My solution: Increase taxes on all alcoholic beverages. Make pharmacies able to sell 20% by volume alcohol mixed with water that is drinkable in non-branded, medical-looking bottles. Addicts with little money can buy that and mix it with fruit juice or whatever, and everyone else buys the expensive real stuff.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#136

Post by zaarn »

mk89 wrote: post #126
zaarn wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In germany, a common method is using dead-mans package stations from DHL using stolen one-time credentials to pick up the package.

If the method is so common, don't people think that maaaybe... it's the police behind it? :D

It's common the market, the police can't really do much about the buyer if it's delivered via postal service. You can just claim you didn't know what that package is or who ordered it.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#137

Post by zaarn »

cm2187 wrote: post #122
zaarn wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In germany, a common method is using dead-mans package stations from DHL using stolen one-time credentials to pick up the package.

Though if the seller is the police, the buyer is exposed.

Not really, the buyer can just claim they didn't know who ordered the package or what was in it. It's not a crime to pick up your mail.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#138

Post by nisa »

inglor_cz wrote: post #109
Tepix wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is a big problem in Germany: 3 million people with alcohol issues and 74,000 yearly deaths.² Weed is considered less of a problem by the scientific community. The logical conclusion: Increase taxes on alcohol and legalize weed. -- ² https://www.dhs.de/suechte/alkohol/zahlen-daten-fakten

> Increase taxes on alcohol Illegal production of homebrewn alcohol is a thing and has been for centuries. Raising taxes at will does not mean that everyone will, unhappily, continue to buy expensive alcohol in the store. There is a limit after which people will start to produce their own moonshine, which is less safe than whatever you buy legally. Or start drinking various chemicals that resemble alcohol. (Window cl…

You can get a beer case in germany for as low as 5€ - 10€ for something mildly decent - that's 24 bottles of 0.5L beer.

As much as I enjoy my beer every other day it's crazy. Double that and pay for rehab/hospital costs with that money.

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#139

Post by leoplct »

It is very easy for the buyer to get caught:

- Buy BTC from an exchange with KYC and then send it to the seller (police)

- Receive the product by post or collect it at a pick-up point where the seller (police) knows the address.

What strategies can the buyer follow to protect his privacy and trust the seller?

Re: German police take down 'world's largest darknet marketplace'

#140

Post by bluescrn »

refurb wrote: post #98
red_trumpet wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one gives a shit, probably because the state earns money when I do so. That's a bit shortsighted though. Because if you end up in the hospital or with lung cancer, you will cost the public insurance lots of money.

Yeah, but that smoker would have paid a lot more in tobacco taxes and won’t be collecting a pension.

I suppose there's even environmental benefits to smoking/drinking yourself into an early grave. Think of all the resources you won't consume and CO2 you won't emit by not living those extra years
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