PA Bill Number: SB1198
Title: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and ...
Description: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and .. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Last Action Date: May 17, 2024
The sinister world of online arms dealers :: 11/27/2015
THE dark web may be known as an online marketplace for the purchase and distribution of illicit drugs, but it is also home to something far more sinister.
With a digital wallet of bitcoin and a quick search of the dark web, someone could easily attempt to have an authentic AK-47 shipped directly to their door.
A recent analysis of the darknet from Vocativ discovered 281 listings of guns and ammunition across the dark web.
Even more concerning was the type of weapons readily available which included 16 submachine and machine guns, 12 sniper rifles and 40 assault rifles.
For those operating as arms dealers, business is so demanding it becomes a fulltime job.
“It’s a better option for most of us than regular civilian life,” a vendor from a marketplace told Vocativ.
“We don’t do much business face-to-face, so the unscrupulous characters you may expect from Hollywood are far and few in between.
“This is simply a very busy business, and usually it’s a 50-plus-hour workweek.”
In terms of customer base, the vendor admits to having all major countries in the world covered, although they primarily send to the USA, Australia, United Kingdom and Ireland.
When it comes to the dubious method of shipping, they have created some ingenious methods.
“Our favourite is power tools. Take the tool apart, mill out space for the firearm component and seal it back up,” the vendor said.
“We’ve used drills, saws, other power tools, tanks, engines, computers, furniture, and even some items costing well over several thousand dollars.”
Despite moving 30 to 70 firearms per month, the vendor says they try to remain vigilant about who they supply with guns.
“It could all be lies, but we assume our clients are telling the truth,” the vendor said.
“Not much we can do, just like normal gun shop owners we can’t really tell the murderers from the customers.
“Based on the shipping locations, personal details, and some stories we assume most are for self-defence.”
Strike Force Oadby was launched in June 2015 to target the online supply of illicit drugs, specifically via classified advertising websites, social media platforms and the 'dark web.'
While some vendors can morally justify selling weapons without 100 per cent knowledge of the purchaser, not all feel as comfortable in the wake of the recent Paris attacks.
The marketplace known as Nucleus has followed the lead of fellow dark web site Agora and ceased selling firearms.
“Dear users, in the light of recent events in France we have decided to remove our weapons section and we are going to disallow weapons on our Market completely,” a message on the website reads, reports The Mirror.
In addition to the fear of supporting terrorism, the very nature of the arms trade on the dark web means there are high number of scammers hoping to make money off would-be customers.
A scammer who used to operate under the name of “Bartsmit” said he ripped off numerous gullible gun hunters before changing his username and starting to the process again.
“I’m just kinda addicted to the scamming part. It’s too easy,” he toldMotherboard.
The fraudster claims to have made $AU150,000 from his venture in which he would upload pictures of real guns and include detailed specs and shipping information for those products.
“[They are] all fantasy stories I tell them,” he said.
Once interested, Bartsmit will get the customer to pay for the item in full before sending a package with a tracking order.
However, once the package arrives the customers find they have been duped by the crafty con man.
“I just send a bag of sugar,” he said.
While obviously being morally fine with his own actions, Bartsmit admits he has no qualms with the authentic vendors.
“If you buy a gun from the streets or buy a gun from the darknet there is no difference,” he said.
“If a human wants something really bad they will get it in some way.”
Despite being a thriving business, law enforcement remain vigilant in policing the online trade of weapons.
Just this week a 48-year-old man from Alabama was sentenced to 51 months in prison for illegally selling more than 32 firearms on the dark web.
Court records showed Michael Albert Focia had unlawfully sold and shipped the firearms all over the world — including Australia.
“Modern criminals often think that the secrecy provided by the internet gives them freedom to violate the law,” US lawyer George L. Beck told AL.com.
“This case proves them wrong and proves that even the most technologically savvy criminal, such as Focia, will be detected, prosecuted, and forced to spend time in prison when he or she uses modern technology to engage in old fashioned crime.”
