Black Market: Dispatches (2016): Season 1, Episode 3 - Dark Web - full transcript
A secret part of the internet is revolutionizing drug dealing.
Sometimes, I laugh at the faith
that I had in a hole in a door.
You know,
I stick my money in there.
Whatever you push back,
I would smoke it or use it.
Thank God there was no Dark Web
when I was using.
So, these just come to
you packed up like this? Yeah.
Through the post office down here?
Yep.
United States Postal Service --
Best drug dealer I've ever had.
No longer do you have
to go down a dark alley
or, you know, these random,
chance meetings on the street
where you risk your freedom,
your safety, your privacy.
You just swipe a button.
Abdullah Saeed found out
the Internet brought the streets
directly into your living room
basically.
It just becomes like Amazon --
just, you know, go on
and fill up your basket
and wait a few days
and check your mailbox.
Our goal is just
to simply show the world
a window as to why people do
the things they do
and where
that desperation comes from.
**
It's like they say --
When the system fails you,
you create your own system.
The Internet you know --
websites, videos, e-mails --
are all just a fraction of
what's out there in cyberspace.
A vast, Deep Web
outside of Google's reach
actually comprises
the majority of the Internet.
Drug dealers realized
this hidden part of the web
is a perfect place
to do business,
so they set up shop.
And this illegal part
of the Deep Web became known
as the Dark Web or Dark Net.
When most people think
of drug trafficking,
they think of smuggling
over borders
and distribution
by a network of street dealers.
But thanks to the Dark Net,
anyone with
an Internet connection can
now start their own
drug-distribution operation
with just a couple of clicks.
So I want to see how it works
and why so many people are
turning to the Dark Net
to get their drugs.
For the past week or so,
I've been talking
on encrypted chat to a guy
who uses the Deep Web markets
to supply his
illegal drug operation here.
Naturally, he's been
a little sketched out
about having us come
and hang out and film with him,
but I just got a text message
giving us the go-ahead,
so we're pretty much good to go.
Let's go see
how this guy sells drugs.
**
Okay, so, we've got your laptop
set up with the projector,
and what are we looking at here?
This is how any average person
would create an account
and get started buying stuff
on the online black market?
This looks pretty simple.
It's just like creating
a Facebook account
or a Gmail account
or something like that.
So, hit that blue button,
and we're all registered?
Whoa, okay.
So, 575 entries
in the drug category.
Benzos, cannabis,
dissociatives, ecstasy,
opioids, prescription,
psychedelics.
So, what do we got here
right on top?
A gram of cocaine --
How much is that?
$76 for a gram of cocaine.
That's pretty comparable
to street prices, I would say.
Whoa, okay, so that's straight-up
heroin that you can get.
It looks insane.
I mean, that looks like it came
straight out of Afghanistan.
By using
an encrypted browser called Tor,
we're able to access
just about any illicit good
or service in what looks exactly
like eBay for contraband.
Whoa, so,
10 U.S. passports there.
Not too many entries
in the "weapons" section.
Makes me feel
a little bit better.
What's under "erotica"?
"Used panties, heavy wear --
medium wear, light wear" --
Wait, what's
the price differential?
So, the heavier-wear ones
are more expensive,
is that how this works?
That is bizarre, man.
Obviously, people would be
looking at a market like this
and thinking this is, like,
a really illicit,
sort of criminal place.
But what is it that you
could tell everyday people
about these sites that would
make it make sense to them?
**
This revolution isn't
just fueling mail-order drug buys.
It's supplying dealers
who are using the Dark Net
to sell drugs
all over the country.
So I headed to the suburbs
to meet one of them.
Yo, look up at the camera.
Yeah, he's good.
Yo.
What's good, man?
Nice to meet you, man.
Thanks for having me
at your place.
Absolutely.
That is one fat mushroom you got
sitting out on the table.
My God, how much do you
think this thing weighs?
- 4.5 grams.
- Yeah?
You got more of this on hand?
Yeah.
Check this out, man.
Open these with me.
Yeah?
What's in there?
We're about to find out.
I ordered this a few days ago.
So, these just come to
you packed up like this? Yeah.
Through the post office down here?
Yep.
United States Postal Service --
Best drug dealer I've ever had.
Whoa, that's a whole bunch.
How many mushrooms are in there?
This is two ounces right here.
And what would you end up paying
if you had to find these
from a local source?
I mean, you wouldn't.
Like, there's
no local source for it.
That's the thing.
- You can't get mushrooms out --
You ain't got 'em here.
So, are you pretty much the only guy
in town who has mushrooms right now?
Pretty much --
that I know of, at least.
You can charge whatever
you want, I'm guessing.
Do you tend to gouge?
- No.
- No?
Especially with psychedelics,
I like to spread the experience
with other people. Yeah.
Why have price be
a barrier to that?
Yeah, truth.
That's a lot
of introspective evenings?
So, these are weed edibles
right here?
Yeah, extremely potent.
They're all individually,
like, two packs,
which is dope
'cause, like, they stay fresh.
And how much did you buy
these for, per cookie?
4.
4 bucks -- 4 bucks a cookie?
and how much do they go for
around here?
I mean, they can be sold
up to $20.
So your margins are really good on
these? Yeah.
**
A couple years ago,
these guys might have spent
their afternoons getting high
and passing the time.
But today, they're some of
the most profitable dealers
in their town.
Yo, I need you
to scale these out.
Make sure we have two zips.
You got 41 grams.
You can taste
that they're fresh.
- Really?
- Definitely.
These actually look like the
tastiest mushrooms I've ever seen.
This is a zip?
This is a zip?
Is that what this is?
Confirmed?
All right, perfect.
'Cause I got
to drop these off today.
Did you grow up
in this neighborhood?
Do you live here?
No, I don't live around here.
I live on the other side
of town --
White, upper-middle-class.
I had the access.
That's why most of the people
doing this are wealthier,
like, younger people.
Young, suburban, white kids, essentially?
Yeah, yeah.
Does that make you feel like
you're in a position of power
here locally 'cause
you're the only one
who can get
a lot of these drugs?
Yeah, it is
a particular advantage.
I mean, I have the access.
I, like, literally go on --
Anything I want, it's all there.
Who else has that?
Where else will you find that?
If you're a drug dealer,
the Dark Net offers you the
ability to source your product
from the convenience
of your couch.
Is operating on the Deep Web
relatively safer
than, like, sourcing
your drugs from the street?
Absolutely.
Arrests from the Dark Web --
like, very rare.
and are you paranoid
at all about, you know,
being surveilled
or being busted?
Not really because the cops are
paying attention to other stuff.
So, have you butted heads
with any of the local gangs
that are also selling the same drugs?
No, no.
I'm friends with them all.
Like, they sell hard drugs.
And, like, it's, like,
a totally different demographic,
like, people who I would,
like, not normally,
like, see or associate with.
Dealers like this guy
can order online
and then turn around
and distribute
in his neighborhood
to buyers he knows.
Hey, man.
Hey, I'm, -
I'm on my way right now.
Yo, you're alone, right,
I'm assuming?
Okay, all right.
Yeah, no, I just had to check.
All right, see you in a bit.
I may break this down
into two orders,
get a feel
on the situation or whatnot.
And then, I'll let you know.
Word, yeah, no doubt, man.
All right, no doubt.
Take it easy, man.
So, this is
what he was giving me, $850.
This is going to get him
500 Xanax bars.
In terms of security
for when you're out,
you know, on these runs,
how do you keep things secure?
Well, I got
some pepper spray right here.
This is if anyone were to try
to run up on the car,
rob me through the window
or whatnot.
This will send 'em
to the emergency room, no doubt.
It's very strong stuff.
Let me see --
I got -- Right here,
I got a machete.
I mean, this is honestly
probably more like
for road-rage purposes than,
like, self-defense purposes.
This right here, this is a --
This is a B.B. gun I have.
It looks very real --
non-lethal.
It's just gonna hurt
like a bitch
if you get hit with it.
It looks like you've got a bunch
of police athletic league decals
on the back of your car.
Are you a big donor?
No, that came with the car,
and I just figured,
you know, leave 'em on.
Like, it could only serve
to benefit me
if I ever get pulled over
or whatnot.
I've got a Catholic saint here.
Maybe the cop's
a religious type.
If it comes to that,
I'm hoping one of those things
will kick in, prevent the car
from getting searched. All right.
Yo, we're not gonna
get pulled over.
I'm white.
The cops that are here are here
for gang violence.
Like, I have weed in the trunk.
I have a sack of money
like this.
I'm not concerned.
**
The Dark Net is
transforming the suburbs.
But how has it affected
other parts of the country
where it's difficult
to get drugs in the first place?
I'm on a quiet, country road
in rural America,
and I'm headed to meet a guy
who says he's been using
the Deep Web for years,
ordering all manner
of illegal drugs
and illicit substances
and having them delivered
right to his doorstep.
You hit
that tree up there, right?
Yeah.
Living out here
in a rural place,
it must be pretty hard
to get the kinds of drugs
that you're looking for.
Did these online black markets
just seem like a godsend to you
when you first discovered them?
Basically, yeah.
I didn't buy locally
because it wasn't worth it.
You don't know
if it's going to be real
or if it's gonna be
some fake shit,
so I started talking
to people online.
So, say, you know,
you log-in to a market.
How do you establish
enough trust with that person
to know that, you know,
they're going to give you
what you're paying them for?
I learned my first lesson
about online drugs and trust --
There was
a very large acid deal.
Got a lot of friends
in on in it,
and I lost all my money.
I lost their money, too.
How much did you loose?
- $5,000 or $6,000, I think.
- Man.
It's not just getting
ripped off by sellers.
The sites themselves
often disappear overnight,
along with tens of millions
of dollars of buyers' money.
There must be
a big lack of confidence,
you know,
in the new marketplaces
that are popping up.
I mean, you would think
people would learn their lesson.
These new sites
that are popping up,
they'll sell anything.
What includes "anything"?
I did find one person
in particular who --
You could buy
a certain amount of weed,
and they would give you
your money back
in counterfeit money.
So you're getting a free ounce,
but the money that you're
getting back is counterfeit.
They don't have
any of the security features
or anything like that,
but they give you tips
on how to get rid of it
and how to spend it.
You basically just give it
a light spray.
You can already see
it kind of brings out
the colors a little bit.
And what kind of legal issues
have you run into personally,
you know,
while doing this business?
I've had things seized
by the Department
of Homeland Security.
I've had things seized
by federal postal inspectors.
I've had letters sent
to my house
harassing me and my family,
saying the cops are gonna
come in and raid the house,
and they don't do anything.
They have not done
a single thing.
**
The reason
why the feds have never visited
buyers like this guy is
they spend most of their energy
trying to take down
the sites themselves.
The Dark Net started
to become popular in 2011
when sites like Silk Road
were set up
to act as a middle man
between buyer and seller.
But in 2013, the government
shut down Silk Road
and sentenced its founder
to life in prison.
But thanks to constantly
evolving encryption techniques,
an anonymous web browser
called Tor,
and Bitcoin, a virtual currency
not backed by any nation
that can be spent anonymously,
these marketplaces
and the dealers who use them
are seemingly always
one step ahead
of the feds who are trying
to shut them down.
**
Now that dealers can
hide online to buy
and sell illegal drugs,
how does law enforcement
keep up?
I spoke with Eric Feldman
of the Homeland Security Investigations
Cybercrime Center to find out.
We're tasked, as HSI,
with enforcing
more than 400 laws,
so anything that moves
from the virtual world
to the Internet, whether that be
the theft
of intellectual property,
it could be narcotics,
it could be firearms --
It's really important
that we just look
at any criminal enterprise
that's looking to move
to the Internet because they're
using the Internet as a tool.
We're literally
seeking out the bad guys
the same way we do on the street
and trying to use
whatever tools we can develop
to attribute them, right?
At the end of the day,
we got to figure out
who that real person is
behind the nickname.
The Department
of Homeland Security can
also use the anonymity of
the Dark Net to their advantage.
We are online operating
in an undercover capacity,
meaning you don't know
if, as an administrator
of a website,
that you are dealing
with another fellow bad guy,
or if you're actually dealing
with a special agent from HSI
whose job it is is to figure out
who you are in the real world.
**
Another way
law enforcement can bust players
on the Dark Net is to follow the
money back to a bank account.
Dark Net markets use
virtual currencies like Bitcoin
to try to stay untraceable.
Now we're back in Brooklyn,
and we're going to go meet
a very different kind of dealer.
If you want to buy Bitcoin
without leaving a trail,
you can't use your bank account
or a credit card.
That's where guys like Todd come in.
Hey, Todd?
He's a street-level
Bitcoin dealer.
So, Todd, so, I've got 200 bucks
in U.S. dollars here
that I want to turn
into Bitcoin.
Can you help me with that?
- Yes.
I'm going to give you
170 spendable for $200.
Todd takes
a 15% cut of every transaction,
and in about 10 seconds,
he added $170 worth
of completely anonymized Bitcoin
into my virtual wallet.
Where can I spend this?
What can I do with this Bitcoin?
Expedia takes it,
but I don't think
that's going to get you
very far.
If you Google it,
you'll find a number of places.
And then, there's a number
of places I could buy stuff from
that you'd probably
rather not know about.
What Todd's doing is
perfectly legal.
But some of his clients are
likely using
the Bitcoin he supplies
to launder money,
buy drugs,
or make illegal transactions.
So this line of work puts
Todd in contact
with some dangerous clients.
The crooks figured out
that we carry cash
and we carry something
worth cash.
A kid calls me, somebody
I had dealt with a few times.
"My brother wants 2,000
in coin" -- no problem.
As soon as I jumped
in the backseat, shut the door,
the kid turns around
with a revolver.
That was it,
and I didn't have much cash.
So they took that.
They took the phone,
And that was the end of it
for the incident.
Emotionally, boy,
that'll shake you up.
I stopped selling coins,
like, for a month after that
just to fall back
and re-evaluate the thing.
And yet, you decided
to come back to the game.
Did you see that it's
actually worth the risk
to be trading in Bitcoin?
It's not for everybody,
but for me, it is.
Why is that?
This is just the best fit ever.
I finally found myself
at 40-something.
I love my job.
I love where I live.
And, yeah, I couldn't make
this money doing anything else.
How many coins do you buy
and sell in a given week
or a given day now?
Cash value -- $30,000 to $75,000.
In a week?
I made more money
in the last year and a half
than I made the entire
40 years before that.
Does it bother you that people
might be using Bitcoin
that you sell them
to, you know, do illegal stuff?
You know, if you gave me
change for a $20,
would it bother me
that you might spent my $20
on a bag of weed?
It really wouldn't.
- It's just money, right?
- It's just money.
Would you turn
someone's business away
if you knew what they were doing with it?
Yeah, I've turned a few people away.
Too much information, you know?
"Now it's a crime.
I don't want to be
involved in that." Gotcha.
But if you don't know, then
you're in the clear, right?
That's probably a gray area.
**
I'm back at the Vice office now,
and I've got 170 bucks
worth of Bitcoin.
I'm going to go on the Deep Web
and see what I can find.
These sites sell a lot of coke,
weed, and heroin,
but some of the bestsellers are
what are known
as research drugs,
popular prescription drugs
sold overseas
that aren't classified
as controlled substances
in most states,
so they're technically legal
to buy here in New York.
What we're going
to look for is etizolam.
Etizolam is a drug that's
similar to Xanax or Valium.
It's a muscle relaxer,
but it's not approved
to be prescribed
here in the U.S.,
and it's still considered
an unapproved research chemical.
**
Okay, we've got a bunch
of listings for etizolam.
This guy looks like he has
what we're looking for.
It's as simple as that.
So, that's it.
With a few clicks,
my order is placed,
and within a certain number
of business days,
I'm going to get a package
that's got etizolam in it.
Now I'm on my way
to the mail-sorting facility
at JFK International Airport
to see how the U.S. government
stops contraband
from coming into the country
through the mail.
Nice to meet you.
- It's a pleasure.
Thanks so much for having me
over at your facility.
Any time.
This is the largest
mail facility
in the United States in CBP.
We get about 600,000
to 700,000 packages a day
into the facility,
okay, for us to examine.
They select some parcels
that come down,
and then we'll x-ray and open,
and we'll take a look.
Right now what our officers
are doing is exactly that.
They selected the mail
from the express-mail area,
and then they're gonna be going
through this mail
and looking for contraband.
We have IPR seizures,
counterfeit pharmaceuticals,
hard narcotics, soft narcotics,
controlled substances.
We're looking for that needle
in the haystack.
These
Homeland Security special agents
are searching mail coming in
from overseas,
but they only have enough agents
to search a fraction
of the incoming packages.
And they're not allowed
to open mail sent
within the United States
without a search warrant.
That gives Dark Net buyers
and sellers here in the U.S.
a huge advantage.
So, going through,
right now, like,
one of these officers
actually found Viagra.
So this would be Viagra pills,
sildenafil.
That's the name of it is,
but it is Viagra.
**
Everyone still thinks it's 1986.
They still think
it's keys of cocaine
and a boat flying into Miami
when it's actually e-commerce
flooding the marketplace.
It's been a huge strain
on the border issues
and Homeland Security
here in the United States
just because instead
of having to go to channels
that we are familiar with
from all kinds of smuggling
throughout history,
now every single person
who has a computer
and Internet connection
can start ordering contraband
into the United States.
So, it's been about three weeks
since I ordered my etizolam.
I've been checking the mail
pretty much every day.
Still no sign of it,
but let's see
if it's in there today.
This says "Ginseng and ginkgo,
small sample."
That's definitely not
something I ordered.
I think this might be
my etizolam.
Let's pop it open
and see what's inside.
Well, ask,
and you shall receive.
It looks like we've got
30 vacuum-sealed pills
of etizolam.
And a nice little,
friendly notice that says,
"Laboratory region only.
Keep in a safe place.
Not for human consumption."
**
Despite high-profile drug busts,
sites that disappear overnight,
and the dubious logic
of popping a blue pill mailed
from a stranger,
a recent study estimated
that Dark Net drug markets
are taking in $100 million
a year and growing.
Do you think you would have
gotten into the business
of selling drugs if it wasn't
for the Deep Web?
No.
Deep Web gives me the advantage.
And without that, like,
I have no special skill.
Do you feel like you're kind of
part of a new movement?
I wish I could say,
"As law enforcement,
we have all the answers and all the
tools that we need to find you."
The answer is we don't.
It's a constant challenge
to keep pace
with the illicit activity
on the Internet
because it's
constantly evolving.
This black market
seems too big, too lucrative,
and, as we found out,
too easy to use
to be shut down any time soon.
**
that I had in a hole in a door.
You know,
I stick my money in there.
Whatever you push back,
I would smoke it or use it.
Thank God there was no Dark Web
when I was using.
So, these just come to
you packed up like this? Yeah.
Through the post office down here?
Yep.
United States Postal Service --
Best drug dealer I've ever had.
No longer do you have
to go down a dark alley
or, you know, these random,
chance meetings on the street
where you risk your freedom,
your safety, your privacy.
You just swipe a button.
Abdullah Saeed found out
the Internet brought the streets
directly into your living room
basically.
It just becomes like Amazon --
just, you know, go on
and fill up your basket
and wait a few days
and check your mailbox.
Our goal is just
to simply show the world
a window as to why people do
the things they do
and where
that desperation comes from.
**
It's like they say --
When the system fails you,
you create your own system.
The Internet you know --
websites, videos, e-mails --
are all just a fraction of
what's out there in cyberspace.
A vast, Deep Web
outside of Google's reach
actually comprises
the majority of the Internet.
Drug dealers realized
this hidden part of the web
is a perfect place
to do business,
so they set up shop.
And this illegal part
of the Deep Web became known
as the Dark Web or Dark Net.
When most people think
of drug trafficking,
they think of smuggling
over borders
and distribution
by a network of street dealers.
But thanks to the Dark Net,
anyone with
an Internet connection can
now start their own
drug-distribution operation
with just a couple of clicks.
So I want to see how it works
and why so many people are
turning to the Dark Net
to get their drugs.
For the past week or so,
I've been talking
on encrypted chat to a guy
who uses the Deep Web markets
to supply his
illegal drug operation here.
Naturally, he's been
a little sketched out
about having us come
and hang out and film with him,
but I just got a text message
giving us the go-ahead,
so we're pretty much good to go.
Let's go see
how this guy sells drugs.
**
Okay, so, we've got your laptop
set up with the projector,
and what are we looking at here?
This is how any average person
would create an account
and get started buying stuff
on the online black market?
This looks pretty simple.
It's just like creating
a Facebook account
or a Gmail account
or something like that.
So, hit that blue button,
and we're all registered?
Whoa, okay.
So, 575 entries
in the drug category.
Benzos, cannabis,
dissociatives, ecstasy,
opioids, prescription,
psychedelics.
So, what do we got here
right on top?
A gram of cocaine --
How much is that?
$76 for a gram of cocaine.
That's pretty comparable
to street prices, I would say.
Whoa, okay, so that's straight-up
heroin that you can get.
It looks insane.
I mean, that looks like it came
straight out of Afghanistan.
By using
an encrypted browser called Tor,
we're able to access
just about any illicit good
or service in what looks exactly
like eBay for contraband.
Whoa, so,
10 U.S. passports there.
Not too many entries
in the "weapons" section.
Makes me feel
a little bit better.
What's under "erotica"?
"Used panties, heavy wear --
medium wear, light wear" --
Wait, what's
the price differential?
So, the heavier-wear ones
are more expensive,
is that how this works?
That is bizarre, man.
Obviously, people would be
looking at a market like this
and thinking this is, like,
a really illicit,
sort of criminal place.
But what is it that you
could tell everyday people
about these sites that would
make it make sense to them?
**
This revolution isn't
just fueling mail-order drug buys.
It's supplying dealers
who are using the Dark Net
to sell drugs
all over the country.
So I headed to the suburbs
to meet one of them.
Yo, look up at the camera.
Yeah, he's good.
Yo.
What's good, man?
Nice to meet you, man.
Thanks for having me
at your place.
Absolutely.
That is one fat mushroom you got
sitting out on the table.
My God, how much do you
think this thing weighs?
- 4.5 grams.
- Yeah?
You got more of this on hand?
Yeah.
Check this out, man.
Open these with me.
Yeah?
What's in there?
We're about to find out.
I ordered this a few days ago.
So, these just come to
you packed up like this? Yeah.
Through the post office down here?
Yep.
United States Postal Service --
Best drug dealer I've ever had.
Whoa, that's a whole bunch.
How many mushrooms are in there?
This is two ounces right here.
And what would you end up paying
if you had to find these
from a local source?
I mean, you wouldn't.
Like, there's
no local source for it.
That's the thing.
- You can't get mushrooms out --
You ain't got 'em here.
So, are you pretty much the only guy
in town who has mushrooms right now?
Pretty much --
that I know of, at least.
You can charge whatever
you want, I'm guessing.
Do you tend to gouge?
- No.
- No?
Especially with psychedelics,
I like to spread the experience
with other people. Yeah.
Why have price be
a barrier to that?
Yeah, truth.
That's a lot
of introspective evenings?
So, these are weed edibles
right here?
Yeah, extremely potent.
They're all individually,
like, two packs,
which is dope
'cause, like, they stay fresh.
And how much did you buy
these for, per cookie?
4.
4 bucks -- 4 bucks a cookie?
and how much do they go for
around here?
I mean, they can be sold
up to $20.
So your margins are really good on
these? Yeah.
**
A couple years ago,
these guys might have spent
their afternoons getting high
and passing the time.
But today, they're some of
the most profitable dealers
in their town.
Yo, I need you
to scale these out.
Make sure we have two zips.
You got 41 grams.
You can taste
that they're fresh.
- Really?
- Definitely.
These actually look like the
tastiest mushrooms I've ever seen.
This is a zip?
This is a zip?
Is that what this is?
Confirmed?
All right, perfect.
'Cause I got
to drop these off today.
Did you grow up
in this neighborhood?
Do you live here?
No, I don't live around here.
I live on the other side
of town --
White, upper-middle-class.
I had the access.
That's why most of the people
doing this are wealthier,
like, younger people.
Young, suburban, white kids, essentially?
Yeah, yeah.
Does that make you feel like
you're in a position of power
here locally 'cause
you're the only one
who can get
a lot of these drugs?
Yeah, it is
a particular advantage.
I mean, I have the access.
I, like, literally go on --
Anything I want, it's all there.
Who else has that?
Where else will you find that?
If you're a drug dealer,
the Dark Net offers you the
ability to source your product
from the convenience
of your couch.
Is operating on the Deep Web
relatively safer
than, like, sourcing
your drugs from the street?
Absolutely.
Arrests from the Dark Web --
like, very rare.
and are you paranoid
at all about, you know,
being surveilled
or being busted?
Not really because the cops are
paying attention to other stuff.
So, have you butted heads
with any of the local gangs
that are also selling the same drugs?
No, no.
I'm friends with them all.
Like, they sell hard drugs.
And, like, it's, like,
a totally different demographic,
like, people who I would,
like, not normally,
like, see or associate with.
Dealers like this guy
can order online
and then turn around
and distribute
in his neighborhood
to buyers he knows.
Hey, man.
Hey, I'm, -
I'm on my way right now.
Yo, you're alone, right,
I'm assuming?
Okay, all right.
Yeah, no, I just had to check.
All right, see you in a bit.
I may break this down
into two orders,
get a feel
on the situation or whatnot.
And then, I'll let you know.
Word, yeah, no doubt, man.
All right, no doubt.
Take it easy, man.
So, this is
what he was giving me, $850.
This is going to get him
500 Xanax bars.
In terms of security
for when you're out,
you know, on these runs,
how do you keep things secure?
Well, I got
some pepper spray right here.
This is if anyone were to try
to run up on the car,
rob me through the window
or whatnot.
This will send 'em
to the emergency room, no doubt.
It's very strong stuff.
Let me see --
I got -- Right here,
I got a machete.
I mean, this is honestly
probably more like
for road-rage purposes than,
like, self-defense purposes.
This right here, this is a --
This is a B.B. gun I have.
It looks very real --
non-lethal.
It's just gonna hurt
like a bitch
if you get hit with it.
It looks like you've got a bunch
of police athletic league decals
on the back of your car.
Are you a big donor?
No, that came with the car,
and I just figured,
you know, leave 'em on.
Like, it could only serve
to benefit me
if I ever get pulled over
or whatnot.
I've got a Catholic saint here.
Maybe the cop's
a religious type.
If it comes to that,
I'm hoping one of those things
will kick in, prevent the car
from getting searched. All right.
Yo, we're not gonna
get pulled over.
I'm white.
The cops that are here are here
for gang violence.
Like, I have weed in the trunk.
I have a sack of money
like this.
I'm not concerned.
**
The Dark Net is
transforming the suburbs.
But how has it affected
other parts of the country
where it's difficult
to get drugs in the first place?
I'm on a quiet, country road
in rural America,
and I'm headed to meet a guy
who says he's been using
the Deep Web for years,
ordering all manner
of illegal drugs
and illicit substances
and having them delivered
right to his doorstep.
You hit
that tree up there, right?
Yeah.
Living out here
in a rural place,
it must be pretty hard
to get the kinds of drugs
that you're looking for.
Did these online black markets
just seem like a godsend to you
when you first discovered them?
Basically, yeah.
I didn't buy locally
because it wasn't worth it.
You don't know
if it's going to be real
or if it's gonna be
some fake shit,
so I started talking
to people online.
So, say, you know,
you log-in to a market.
How do you establish
enough trust with that person
to know that, you know,
they're going to give you
what you're paying them for?
I learned my first lesson
about online drugs and trust --
There was
a very large acid deal.
Got a lot of friends
in on in it,
and I lost all my money.
I lost their money, too.
How much did you loose?
- $5,000 or $6,000, I think.
- Man.
It's not just getting
ripped off by sellers.
The sites themselves
often disappear overnight,
along with tens of millions
of dollars of buyers' money.
There must be
a big lack of confidence,
you know,
in the new marketplaces
that are popping up.
I mean, you would think
people would learn their lesson.
These new sites
that are popping up,
they'll sell anything.
What includes "anything"?
I did find one person
in particular who --
You could buy
a certain amount of weed,
and they would give you
your money back
in counterfeit money.
So you're getting a free ounce,
but the money that you're
getting back is counterfeit.
They don't have
any of the security features
or anything like that,
but they give you tips
on how to get rid of it
and how to spend it.
You basically just give it
a light spray.
You can already see
it kind of brings out
the colors a little bit.
And what kind of legal issues
have you run into personally,
you know,
while doing this business?
I've had things seized
by the Department
of Homeland Security.
I've had things seized
by federal postal inspectors.
I've had letters sent
to my house
harassing me and my family,
saying the cops are gonna
come in and raid the house,
and they don't do anything.
They have not done
a single thing.
**
The reason
why the feds have never visited
buyers like this guy is
they spend most of their energy
trying to take down
the sites themselves.
The Dark Net started
to become popular in 2011
when sites like Silk Road
were set up
to act as a middle man
between buyer and seller.
But in 2013, the government
shut down Silk Road
and sentenced its founder
to life in prison.
But thanks to constantly
evolving encryption techniques,
an anonymous web browser
called Tor,
and Bitcoin, a virtual currency
not backed by any nation
that can be spent anonymously,
these marketplaces
and the dealers who use them
are seemingly always
one step ahead
of the feds who are trying
to shut them down.
**
Now that dealers can
hide online to buy
and sell illegal drugs,
how does law enforcement
keep up?
I spoke with Eric Feldman
of the Homeland Security Investigations
Cybercrime Center to find out.
We're tasked, as HSI,
with enforcing
more than 400 laws,
so anything that moves
from the virtual world
to the Internet, whether that be
the theft
of intellectual property,
it could be narcotics,
it could be firearms --
It's really important
that we just look
at any criminal enterprise
that's looking to move
to the Internet because they're
using the Internet as a tool.
We're literally
seeking out the bad guys
the same way we do on the street
and trying to use
whatever tools we can develop
to attribute them, right?
At the end of the day,
we got to figure out
who that real person is
behind the nickname.
The Department
of Homeland Security can
also use the anonymity of
the Dark Net to their advantage.
We are online operating
in an undercover capacity,
meaning you don't know
if, as an administrator
of a website,
that you are dealing
with another fellow bad guy,
or if you're actually dealing
with a special agent from HSI
whose job it is is to figure out
who you are in the real world.
**
Another way
law enforcement can bust players
on the Dark Net is to follow the
money back to a bank account.
Dark Net markets use
virtual currencies like Bitcoin
to try to stay untraceable.
Now we're back in Brooklyn,
and we're going to go meet
a very different kind of dealer.
If you want to buy Bitcoin
without leaving a trail,
you can't use your bank account
or a credit card.
That's where guys like Todd come in.
Hey, Todd?
He's a street-level
Bitcoin dealer.
So, Todd, so, I've got 200 bucks
in U.S. dollars here
that I want to turn
into Bitcoin.
Can you help me with that?
- Yes.
I'm going to give you
170 spendable for $200.
Todd takes
a 15% cut of every transaction,
and in about 10 seconds,
he added $170 worth
of completely anonymized Bitcoin
into my virtual wallet.
Where can I spend this?
What can I do with this Bitcoin?
Expedia takes it,
but I don't think
that's going to get you
very far.
If you Google it,
you'll find a number of places.
And then, there's a number
of places I could buy stuff from
that you'd probably
rather not know about.
What Todd's doing is
perfectly legal.
But some of his clients are
likely using
the Bitcoin he supplies
to launder money,
buy drugs,
or make illegal transactions.
So this line of work puts
Todd in contact
with some dangerous clients.
The crooks figured out
that we carry cash
and we carry something
worth cash.
A kid calls me, somebody
I had dealt with a few times.
"My brother wants 2,000
in coin" -- no problem.
As soon as I jumped
in the backseat, shut the door,
the kid turns around
with a revolver.
That was it,
and I didn't have much cash.
So they took that.
They took the phone,
And that was the end of it
for the incident.
Emotionally, boy,
that'll shake you up.
I stopped selling coins,
like, for a month after that
just to fall back
and re-evaluate the thing.
And yet, you decided
to come back to the game.
Did you see that it's
actually worth the risk
to be trading in Bitcoin?
It's not for everybody,
but for me, it is.
Why is that?
This is just the best fit ever.
I finally found myself
at 40-something.
I love my job.
I love where I live.
And, yeah, I couldn't make
this money doing anything else.
How many coins do you buy
and sell in a given week
or a given day now?
Cash value -- $30,000 to $75,000.
In a week?
I made more money
in the last year and a half
than I made the entire
40 years before that.
Does it bother you that people
might be using Bitcoin
that you sell them
to, you know, do illegal stuff?
You know, if you gave me
change for a $20,
would it bother me
that you might spent my $20
on a bag of weed?
It really wouldn't.
- It's just money, right?
- It's just money.
Would you turn
someone's business away
if you knew what they were doing with it?
Yeah, I've turned a few people away.
Too much information, you know?
"Now it's a crime.
I don't want to be
involved in that." Gotcha.
But if you don't know, then
you're in the clear, right?
That's probably a gray area.
**
I'm back at the Vice office now,
and I've got 170 bucks
worth of Bitcoin.
I'm going to go on the Deep Web
and see what I can find.
These sites sell a lot of coke,
weed, and heroin,
but some of the bestsellers are
what are known
as research drugs,
popular prescription drugs
sold overseas
that aren't classified
as controlled substances
in most states,
so they're technically legal
to buy here in New York.
What we're going
to look for is etizolam.
Etizolam is a drug that's
similar to Xanax or Valium.
It's a muscle relaxer,
but it's not approved
to be prescribed
here in the U.S.,
and it's still considered
an unapproved research chemical.
**
Okay, we've got a bunch
of listings for etizolam.
This guy looks like he has
what we're looking for.
It's as simple as that.
So, that's it.
With a few clicks,
my order is placed,
and within a certain number
of business days,
I'm going to get a package
that's got etizolam in it.
Now I'm on my way
to the mail-sorting facility
at JFK International Airport
to see how the U.S. government
stops contraband
from coming into the country
through the mail.
Nice to meet you.
- It's a pleasure.
Thanks so much for having me
over at your facility.
Any time.
This is the largest
mail facility
in the United States in CBP.
We get about 600,000
to 700,000 packages a day
into the facility,
okay, for us to examine.
They select some parcels
that come down,
and then we'll x-ray and open,
and we'll take a look.
Right now what our officers
are doing is exactly that.
They selected the mail
from the express-mail area,
and then they're gonna be going
through this mail
and looking for contraband.
We have IPR seizures,
counterfeit pharmaceuticals,
hard narcotics, soft narcotics,
controlled substances.
We're looking for that needle
in the haystack.
These
Homeland Security special agents
are searching mail coming in
from overseas,
but they only have enough agents
to search a fraction
of the incoming packages.
And they're not allowed
to open mail sent
within the United States
without a search warrant.
That gives Dark Net buyers
and sellers here in the U.S.
a huge advantage.
So, going through,
right now, like,
one of these officers
actually found Viagra.
So this would be Viagra pills,
sildenafil.
That's the name of it is,
but it is Viagra.
**
Everyone still thinks it's 1986.
They still think
it's keys of cocaine
and a boat flying into Miami
when it's actually e-commerce
flooding the marketplace.
It's been a huge strain
on the border issues
and Homeland Security
here in the United States
just because instead
of having to go to channels
that we are familiar with
from all kinds of smuggling
throughout history,
now every single person
who has a computer
and Internet connection
can start ordering contraband
into the United States.
So, it's been about three weeks
since I ordered my etizolam.
I've been checking the mail
pretty much every day.
Still no sign of it,
but let's see
if it's in there today.
This says "Ginseng and ginkgo,
small sample."
That's definitely not
something I ordered.
I think this might be
my etizolam.
Let's pop it open
and see what's inside.
Well, ask,
and you shall receive.
It looks like we've got
30 vacuum-sealed pills
of etizolam.
And a nice little,
friendly notice that says,
"Laboratory region only.
Keep in a safe place.
Not for human consumption."
**
Despite high-profile drug busts,
sites that disappear overnight,
and the dubious logic
of popping a blue pill mailed
from a stranger,
a recent study estimated
that Dark Net drug markets
are taking in $100 million
a year and growing.
Do you think you would have
gotten into the business
of selling drugs if it wasn't
for the Deep Web?
No.
Deep Web gives me the advantage.
And without that, like,
I have no special skill.
Do you feel like you're kind of
part of a new movement?
I wish I could say,
"As law enforcement,
we have all the answers and all the
tools that we need to find you."
The answer is we don't.
It's a constant challenge
to keep pace
with the illicit activity
on the Internet
because it's
constantly evolving.
This black market
seems too big, too lucrative,
and, as we found out,
too easy to use
to be shut down any time soon.
**