On Jan. 20, 2025 U.S. President Donald Trump, signed a decree to create “a process by which certain international cartels (the Cartels) and other organizations will be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations” that “have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs” consistent with Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).
Now, according to Searchlight Cyber on Aug. 28, 2024 “the dark web has emerged as a modern frontier for illicit activities, particularly the sale of illegal drugs. This hidden part of the internet has created a haven for drug dealers and buyers seeking anonymity.”
“Making a shift from traditional street-level transactions to online,” anonymous marketplaces “exploited anonymity offered by the dark web and the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.” It cites Statista that “drugs account for over 70% of all dark web sales, with it being the most significant contributor to the dark web’s $4.2 billion in cryptocurrency transactions.”
Searchlight Cyber which tracks 850,000 dark web sites, revealed it discovered “100 dark web marketplaces selling illegal drugs and narcotics. These figures along with the rapid growth of dark web marketplaces has meant that law enforcement agencies have had to develop new strategies to uncover illegal drug sales.”
Both the U.S. and the EU are improving methods to seize the crypto assets of Russian oligarchs attempting to escape sanctions. Trump will have to choose: fight the criminal cartels by shutting down and seizing crypto-assets, or make the U.S. the world capital of crypto, the precious tool used by the cartels to launder their dope money?
