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Cops Chase Drugs on the Internet |
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Written by Jim Krane
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Tuesday, 21 December 1999 |
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Page 4 of 5
NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Bill Stephens, a private investigator specializing in computer crime, said he recently made an undercover purchase of GHB from a Web distributor in Maryland, paying $500 for a dozen vials. No questions asked, he said, on condition that his firms name or location not be released. The drugs arrived by Airborne Express air courier, Stephens said.
In another investigation, Stephens said he purchased opium poppy seeds in an online auction at eBay.com, receiving an instruction sheet detailing the process for extracting sap from the flower bulbs and making opium.
A recent visit to the eBay site found a packet of 1,500 opium poppy seeds for sale with the message: These seeds are intended for aesthetic and culinary purposes only. Please check local regulations before buying. An eBay spokesman said the company doesn't prohibit sales of items that are legal in most states, such as opium poppy seeds.
Internet dealers also sell kits for making rohypnol, also known as roofies or the date-rape drug. The kits contain most of the ingredients needed to mix a batch of the illegal chemical, said U.S. Customs Service spokesman Dean Boyd.
Our Cybersmuggling Center is looking at this, Boyd said.
Customs agents routinely seize shipments of ecstasy and marijuana seeds arriving from Europe, some of which has been ordered over the Internet, Boyd said.
We're seeing an enormous increase in our seizures of ecstasy this year, said Boyd, who pointed to Belgium, the Netherlands and other Western European countries as manufacturing centers for drugs run into the U.S. by the Israeli mob.
Also in the mix are pharmaceuticals sold in the United States with a prescription but on the Internet without. Customs investigators in Los Angeles are currently pursuing such a case.
COPS BEHIND THE CURVE
During the course of this investigation, conversations with lawmen across the country revealed they have precious little knowledge that drug sellers had taken to the Internet or even that the Web could be used for anti-drug intelligence.
The lack of knowledge on law enforcement's part really helps [dealers], Porrata said.
One reason for lack of police interest is that the amounts of drugs bought and sold on the Internet tend to be small.
They're not likely to find the kind of weight they're looking for, said Charlie Fuller of the International Association of Undercover Officers.
And, said Fuller, it takes a rare type of officer who's at ease in both the drug-trip jargon of Internet chat rooms and the gyrating crowds of rave dance parties.
BIG BUSTS ONLY, PLEASE
The FBI wont get involved in a drug bust unless it involves a major distributor and prospects for a significant haul, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.
At the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, spokeswoman Illa Brown refused to confirm whether the DEA had ever monitored Internet drug sales in the past or planned to do so in the future.
Hampton, of the Web Police, said his organization uses blustery language to threaten Webmasters running drug sites, ordering them to shut down or else.
We try to find out who the distributors are, where the source is and who's buying it, said Hampton. Then we go in there and directly confront them. We say, We know you're there, and we're going to bust your site.
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