Via The Globe and Mail: Amid overdose crisis, China’s opioid producers embrace the Dark Web. Excerpt:
The RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security are being stymied in joint investigations to stem the smuggling of powerful synthetic opioids into Canada because the trade is largely conducted through the so-called Dark Web.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Scott Doran says most of the opioids such as fentanyl and its chemical precursors arrive in small packages through the mail from China, predominantly in the Vancouver area. He told The Globe and Mail that bilateral efforts to track down the Chinese dealers behind the illegal opioid trade have proved almost impossible because of clandestine Internet trading sites, where buyers can visit anonymously and buy the drugs with bitcoin, a digital currency often regarded as untraceable.
The Dark Web is part of the Internet that is intentionally hidden and requires special software and modified browsers to access. The encryption used on these sites has proved difficult for the police to crack.
“The Dark Web makes things virtually undetectable and untraceable. So it is really hard to get back to the origin,” Chief Supt. Doran said.
“We can find recipients who are receiving packages from the Dark Web … but the reality is that the people buying it, unless they have an intimate relationship with the seller, they don’t know who the seller is either,” Chief Supt. Doran said.
Canada is in the midst of an opioid crisis that has led to an explosion of fatal overdoses. New data suggest almost 2,500 Canadians died from opioid-related overdoses last year. In 2015, an estimated 2,000 Canadians died from overdosing on opioids – both illicit and prescription. The problem is so pervasive that police, doctors, health officials and politicians at all levels are scrambling to contain the epidemic.
The collaboration between the RCMP and China only began last year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed an agreement with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a visit to Ottawa in September, 2016. It led to a formal intelligence-sharing agreement between the RCMP and Ministry of Public Security.
In exchange for Chinese co-operation to stop the flow of illicit synthetic opioids, Beijing expects the RCMP to provide intelligence and help track down Chinese nationals living in Canada who are accused of economic crimes such as money laundering, bribery and theft.
Chief Supt. Doran said Chinese authorities are just as frustrated as the Mounties in trying to arrest the opioid dealers who are embracing the Dark Web and sending the deadly drugs to Canada.
“They also recognize that the Dark Web is what it is and it is difficult for them to do as well. They may have more ability to turn websites off but, again, getting behind the websites and who the administrators are and so on is very difficult,” he said.
