Trust Factors in the Social Figuration of Online Drug Trafficking: A Qualitative Content Analysis on a Darknet Market

• Author: Ákos Szigeti,Richard Frank,Tibor Kiss
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231159996
• Published date: 01 May 2023
• Date: 01 May 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231159996

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2023, Vol. 39(2) 167 –184

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862231159996

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Article

Trust Factors in the Social

Figuration of Online Drug

Trafficking: A Qualitative

Content Analysis on a

Darknet Market

Ákos Szigeti1, Richard Frank2, and Tibor Kiss1

Abstract

The rise in illicit drug trafficking on darknet markets (DNMs) was boosted by those

restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to put this trend

into context by exploring the characteristics of vendors’ services and reputations and

understand how products are advertised and what customers tend to value. Qualitative

content analysis was conducted on a sample (n = 100) randomly selected from 6,357

product descriptions and a sample (n = 500) randomly selected from 34,619 reviews.

Both samples are from products found in the drug category of the darknet market

Dark0de Reborn. On the supply side, vendors tended to provide basic information

on the drugs, a mention of their high quality, the speed and stealth of delivery, their

availability for responding to messages, the effects of the drugs, and sometimes even

instructions for use. Regarding the demand side, customers usually praised the quality

of the product, mentioned the speed and stealth-secure packaging of delivery as

essentials, and expressed only a small number of issues. These results support the

applicability of Norbert Elias’ social figuration theory in which the interdependencies

of the actors are fueled by trust. This theoretical frame sheds light on the social value

of the community of DNMs. Furthermore, the findings formulate a robust hypothesis

for future research about the previously undervalued role of delivery providers.

Keywords

darknet markets, drug trafficking, trust factors, social figuration, qualitative content

analysis

1University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary

2Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Ákos Szigeti, Doctoral School of Law Enforcement, University of Public Service, H-1083 Budapest, 2

Ludovika tér, Budapest 1083, Hungary.

Email: szigeti.akos@uni-nke.hu

1159996CCJXXX10.1177/10439862231159996Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeSzigeti et al.

research-article2023

168 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 39(2)

Introduction

The restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic seem to have further

boosted an already decade-long increase in the volume of illicit drug trafficking on

online anonymous marketplaces designed to facilitate these transactions, called dark-

net markets (DNMs; European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction &

European Police Office [EMCDDA & Europol], 2020; “World Drug Report,” 2021).

Although drug dealers who operate through face-to-face meetings bought less from

darknet markets under restrictions, the number of individual consumer DNM orders

increased significantly during this period (EMCDDA & Europol, 2020). Understanding

the process of DNM drug trafficking and the (trust) factors affecting customer behav-

ior not only helps to put this trend into context but is also essential information for

criminal justice practitioners and policymakers. Analyzing online data collected from

darknet markets is an invaluable element of designing evidence-based policies both

for monitoring activities on these platforms and for planning law enforcement inter-

ventions (Broséus et al., 2016). In relation to monitoring, Jardine (2018) claims that it

is difficult to measure the threat posed by the Darknet because counting the supply

side is easy but inaccurate, while counting the demand side would be much more accu-

rate but tremendously difficult. Therefore, Jardine (2018) suggests using vendor repu-

tational data (among other sources) as an element of darknet threat metrics. Regarding

interventions, damaging trust in vendors is one of the tactical elements of law enforce-

ment operations against DNMs (Afilipoaie & Shortis, 2018), providing yet another

reason to further examine and understand the structure of these data.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to explore the characteristics of the ser-

vices and reputations of vendors by analyzing the content of a sample of DNM product

listings and user reviews. To meet this goal, this article first provides a general intro-

duction to the Darknet and DNMs and then summarizes previous research results on

factors affecting illicit drug trafficking on DNMs and on the communities of DNMs.

Then, it describes how and on what sample was this qualitative content analysis imple-

mented. In line with the exploratory nature of this study, the article reports results in a

descriptive form and discusses the findings in a separate chapter. After supplementing

all these with a thorough presentation of the limitations of this online qualitative study,

it will conclude with theoretical remarks, policy implications, and future research

recommendations.

The Darknet and DNMs

The Darknet, as its name suggests, is considered the dark side of the global internet.

Darknet is part of the deep web, the nonindexed part of the internet; its pages cannot

be accessed by traditional search engines (such as Google or Microsoft Bing).

However, while other content on the deep web is typically accessed by simply logging

in to a service provider (such as an email client or corporate intranet), accessing dark-

net content requires an anonymous browser. An example of this is The Onion Router

(TOR), which was originally developed by the U.S. Navy. Their goal was to encrypt