Analysts from the DarkOwl company noticed that several new marketplaces appeared on the darknet at once, which allegedly work under the auspices of well-known Mexican cartels. These sites sell drugs, offer killer services, and claim to be backed by “experienced” players from their respective fields.
The researchers write that after the closure of a number of large marketplaces on the dark web, there is a tendency to move from large sites that attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies to smaller and less well-known resources. In particular, the experts found several trading floors at once, allegedly representing the “shops” of well-known cartels.
Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS Market) is a marketplace allegedly associated with the Sinaloa cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa). Here you can find drugs, chemicals, weapons, malware, money laundering services, killer services. The site has an escrow payment system.
Cartel Gulf Texas – This site is also allegedly affiliated with Sinaloa and offers drug delivery from Laredo, Texas to anywhere in the world via USPS.
Los Urabenos is a marketplace ostensibly related to the Colombian Golfo cartel (Cártel del Golfo), selling pure (90%+) cocaine, as well as the services of assassins. The sellers on this site claim to have already completed 750 orders for over 400 customers.
Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generation (CJNG) – The site is allegedly affiliated with a gang of the same name in Mexico and positions itself as “the most trusted cocaine wholesaler in the world.” Works with dead drops, sea or air cargo and accepts payments in bitcoins.
Ausline is a marketplace targeting an Australian and New Zealand audience, created by a well-known dark web merchant with alleged ties to the Colombian Scorpion Cartel.
Researchers remind that everything can be a lie on the darknet, so the above trading platforms can be fakes, the operators of which simply deceive people and steal money for orders. , which are never executed. In addition, the services of killers on the dark web were repeatedly offered by law enforcement officers (as part of operations to capture interested buyers).
However, the emergence of many separate specialized platforms associated with cartels is quite consistent with the general trend of the darknet, which dictates the need for sellers to abandon the usual decentralized marketplaces focused on drug trafficking.