Police interventions directed toward crime facilitators

Abstract

Cryptomarkets are e-commerce platforms that specialize in the sale of illicit drugs. The success of these markets has brought them to the attention of law enforcement agencies around the world, but coordinated efforts to shut them down and arrest their participants have so far been ineffective. This study analyses the impact of a recent police intervention that led to the closure of one of the main facilitators of cryptomarket activities, the DeepDotWeb platform. Analysis of 2,841 messages posted on discussion forums dedicated to cryptomarkets made it possible to understand how participants saw the prevention mechanisms used against DeepDotWeb and how they adapted to its closure. The results suggest that interventions that increase the effort and risk associated with browsing the darknet while also decreasing the expected benefits of crime may be more effective in disrupting illicit activities over the long term than the closure of any single market.