One of the most frequently reviewed vendors of synthetic opioids on AlphaBay goes by the screen name BenzoChems. But most of the recent criminal complaints in the United States appear to involve drugs procured through markets that exist only on the dark web. Dark web technology was originally developed by American intelligence agencies to allow for encrypted communication. In recent months, though, the number of listings for fentanyl on AlphaBay and other dark web sites has been rising steadily. Ms. Haun, the former federal prosecutor in San Francisco, said the tools that enabled dark web commerce made it very unlikely that the expanding traffic would be curtailed anytime soon.

Source: New York Times June 10, 2017 15:01 UTC