European drugs agency: Online market for illegal drugs is growing

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has released a report on The internet and drug markets, which indicates that the Internet has been an important facilitator in the growth of drug markets. It lists a multitude of virtual marketplaces, ranging from the surface to the deep web, where illicit drugs are bought and sold. It furthermore elucidates the role of bitcoin in these marketplaces and the consequences of virtual drug trade on jurisdiction and law enforcement. In an interview in The Guardian, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, said, ‘the illicit market is evolving, and so should our efforts to eliminate it. We should stop the abuse of the internet by those wanting to turn it into a drug market. Technology is offering fresh opportunities for law enforcement to tackle online drug markets and reduce threats to public health.‘