Listed for sale: Analyzing data on fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and other novel synthetic opioids on one cryptomarket.

Cryptomarkets Darknet markets Fentanyl Fentanyl analogs Synthetic opioids

Journal

Drug and alcohol dependence
ISSN: 1879-0046
Titre abrégé: Drug Alcohol Depend
Pays: Ireland
ID NLM: 7513587

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
01 Aug 2020
Historique:
received: 12 02 2020
revised: 14 05 2020
accepted: 08 06 2020
medline: 26 6 2020
pubmed: 26 6 2020
entrez: 26 6 2020
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

The United States is facing a "triple wave" epidemic fueled by novel synthetic opioids. Cryptomarkets, anonymous marketplaces located on the deep web, play an increasingly important role in the distribution of illicit substances. This article presents the data collected and processed by the eDarkTrends platform concerning the availability trends of novel synthetic opioids listed on one cryptomarket. Listings from the DreamMarket cryptomarket "Opioids" and "Research Chemicals" sections were collected between March 2018 and January 2019. Collected data were processed using eDarkTrends Named Entity Recognition algorithm to identify opioid drugs, and to analyze their availability trends in terms of frequency of listings, available average weights, average prices, and geographic indicators of shipment origin and destination information. 95,011 opioid-related listings were collected through 26 crawling sessions. 33 novel synthetic opioids were identified in 3.3 % of the collected listings. 44.7 % of these listings advertised fentanyl (pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical) or fentanyl analogs for an average of 2.8 kgs per crawl. "Synthetic heroin" accounted for 33.2 % of novel synthetic opioid listings for an average 1.1 kgs per crawl with 97.7 % of listings advertised as shipped from Canada. Other novel synthetic opioids (e.g., U-47,700, AP-237) represented 22 % of these listings for an average of 6.1 kgs per crawl with 97.2 % of listings advertised as shipped from China. Our data indicate consistent availability of a wide variety of novel synthetic opioids both in retail and wholesale-level amounts. Identification of new substances highlights the value of cryptomarket data for early warning systems of emerging substance use trends.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
The United States is facing a "triple wave" epidemic fueled by novel synthetic opioids. Cryptomarkets, anonymous marketplaces located on the deep web, play an increasingly important role in the distribution of illicit substances. This article presents the data collected and processed by the eDarkTrends platform concerning the availability trends of novel synthetic opioids listed on one cryptomarket.
METHODS METHODS
Listings from the DreamMarket cryptomarket "Opioids" and "Research Chemicals" sections were collected between March 2018 and January 2019. Collected data were processed using eDarkTrends Named Entity Recognition algorithm to identify opioid drugs, and to analyze their availability trends in terms of frequency of listings, available average weights, average prices, and geographic indicators of shipment origin and destination information.
RESULTS RESULTS
95,011 opioid-related listings were collected through 26 crawling sessions. 33 novel synthetic opioids were identified in 3.3 % of the collected listings. 44.7 % of these listings advertised fentanyl (pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical) or fentanyl analogs for an average of 2.8 kgs per crawl. "Synthetic heroin" accounted for 33.2 % of novel synthetic opioid listings for an average 1.1 kgs per crawl with 97.7 % of listings advertised as shipped from Canada. Other novel synthetic opioids (e.g., U-47,700, AP-237) represented 22 % of these listings for an average of 6.1 kgs per crawl with 97.2 % of listings advertised as shipped from China.
CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate consistent availability of a wide variety of novel synthetic opioids both in retail and wholesale-level amounts. Identification of new substances highlights the value of cryptomarket data for early warning systems of emerging substance use trends.

Identifiants

DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108115 PMID: 32585419 PMC: PMC7736148
pubmed: 32585419
pii: S0376-8716(20)30280-5
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108115
pmc: PMC7736148
mid: NIHMS1603615
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

108115

Subventions

Organisme : NIMH NIH HHS
ID : R01 MH105384
Pays : United States
Organisme : NIDA NIH HHS
ID : R21 DA044518
Pays : United States

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict declared.

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Auteurs

Francois R Lamy (FR)

Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand. Electronic address: francois.lam@mahidol.edu.

Raminta Daniulaityte (R)

College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States.

Monica J Barratt (MJ)

Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Usha Lokala (U)

Kno.e.sis Center, Department of Computer Science, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, United States.

Amit Sheth (A)

Artificial Intelligence Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States.

Robert G Carlson (RG)

Center for Interventions, Treatment, and Addictions Research, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, United States.

Classifications MeSH