For some, combining the topics of the Internet, computers, and drugs will make them immediately think about their email in-boxes being filled with unsolicited ads for Viagra and other male-enhancement drugs. Although annoying, this barrage of sales pitches for little blue penile-enlargement drugs is not all one can find online. In regard to harmful drugs, the Internet has truly become a tremendous resource for all kinds of information related to substance abuse, including sites about recognizing the symptoms of drug addiction, warnings about drug interaction, drug treatment resources, and substance abuse support. This information is invaluable, and the resources are nearly endless. However, what many do not realize is that the Internet has also become a gateway of easy access for information on illegal drug activities. This is the darker side of drugs and computers we will explore.
Think for a moment about how computers and the Internet have transformed the way you do business—you have instant communication, secure private networks, easy file transfer, and a plethora of information all at your fingertips. Think now about what all this means to a drug dealer—encrypted business ledgers, private emails, easily shared customer databases, arranged meeting points, anonymous communications, and so on. Trust us, this has not escaped the notice of investigators.
We’d like to take you back in time to the 1950s in London, where the term rave was first used to describe wild bohemian parties. The band The Yardbirds coined the phrase rave up in the 1960s, and those who were hard partiers quickly became referred to as ravers.
In the 1980s, youths were attending large parties where “acid house” music and techno electronic music was played in a setting of laser light shows. The repetitive electronic beats created an almost hypnotic background for partygoers.
These parties were held in warehouses, clubs, and outdoors, and they attracted thousands of partygoers. The parties would often last for days and were marked by the use of club drugs such as Ecstasy, speed, methamphetamine, GHB (the date rape drug), Rohypnol, LSD, and Ketamine (an animal tranquilizer). These parties caught on in major urban areas across the United States, where they were largely held “underground”.
Aware of their presence, law enforcement investigated these rave parties in the late 1990s and early 2000s because of the common and widespread use of club drugs. Rave parties were a place to buy drugs for the partier and a place to cash in for the party promoter and drug dealer. Typically a cover fee would be assessed, and once inside, partygoers would pack into the space, dancing and hugging to loud techno music. Drug use was out in the open, and the partying and drugging would occur all night and even for days.
These parties were huge moneymakers for promoters. People were packed into locations like herded animals. The parties were loud and hot. Ironically, no alcohol was served because of the common attendance of underage partiers, although that did not stop the sale of illicit substances, which were sold by the dose and could cost anywhere from $5 to $50 per hit. On the other hand, bottles of water went for $5 or $10 because the combination of the ecstasy and wild dancing in closed quarters could send a partier’s body temperature skyrocketing.
Ecstasy, a popular club or “designer” drug, is a form of hallucinogen (MDMA [3,4-methylenedioxy- N-methylamphetamine]) that impacts the five senses. Under the influence of the drug, an individual’s hearing, smell, sight, taste, and emotional feelings are amplified by outside stimulus. Bizarre behavior could be witnessed at these parties, such as attendees dancing around with glo-sticks on their heads, wrists, or even pierced onto parts of their bodies. It was common to see kids sucking on pacifiers and wearing dust masks. The glo-sticks and the laser light shows helped enhance the visual high, while the loud music provided an auditory stimulus. The dust masks often contained Vicks Vapor Rub, because the smell was enhanced by the drug use and aided in the euphoria of the partier. The baby pacifiers were not for a high but rather to prevent the partier’s teeth from grinding, a side effect of ecstasy. People would be hugging and friendly, touting the philosophy that they believed in PLURR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility). The effect of ecstasy was often one of feeling affectionate, and therefore it was not uncommon to see people hugging and kissing, regardless of whether they knew each other.
In the restrooms or in the corner of the room, one could find the dealers peddling their wares, one hit at a time. Kids would shell out cash for any substance purported to make them high, often buying and ingesting substances unknown even to themselves. During one raid, arrestees admitted to putting unknown substances in their bodies, not giving any thought to what they were ingesting or how it might harm them.
Because club drugs are often cooked up in clandestine laboratories, there are no standards. Two different dealers selling a dose of ecstasy could actually be selling two entirely different substances. The strength of the hit, the way it is manufactured, and the cut used for the drug could be different and even deadly. The term “cut” refers to the additives that dealers use when packaging their drug for sale. The purity of a drug is actually cut by the additive. Inostitol, a supplement that can be purchased at any vitamin store, is the common cut for cocaine dealers. When a dealer wants to get more mileage from the product, he will use almost any available substance to do so. In terms of club or designer drugs, these drugs are often made by a basement chemist who mixes at will and cuts with agents such as lye or Draino in filthy conditions. Labs have been found in barns, hotel rooms, trailers, and in the woods. The process is volatile and dangerous, and has resulted in the deaths of chemists as well as law enforcement officers.
There are well-documented cases of kids dying after using Ecstasy (or XTC, one of its street slang names) just one time, often because their bodies were unable to regulate their internal body temperature and they cooked to death from the inside. In trainings we conducted for law enforcement and parents’ information, we showed a popular television news segment that went undercover at rave parties and interviewed partygoers. The reaction from the crowds, regardless of whether they were seasoned law-enforcement veterans or parents of new teenagers, was shock at the behavior exhibited in front of the cameras. Some youths were behaving with delayed reflexes, slurred speech, and almost trance-like actions. Others were off the wall, dancing, jumping, and hugging and kissing everyone, even complete strangers. Some were actively snorting lines of Ketamine or drinking bottle caps of clear GHB. There were even kids who had passed out, were having difficulty breathing, or were unconscious, possibly from the body overheating or from the reaction of the combinations of drugs in their bodies. The youths who agreed to be interviewed behaved in a dopey, drug-induced manner. Some talked about being in this state for a couple of days or even looking forward to the next party. One female talked about the risk of taking some of the club drugs and how she was aware she could die; however, it just didn’t matter. These kids put anything in their systems regardless of the consequences just to experience the “high”.
Whereas it used to be that fliers were the primary way of spreading the word about upcoming rave parties, more and more party organizers have turned to the World Wide Web. Ravers can go to promoters’ websites to find out the next party location, sometimes getting the information cryptically somewhere on the site. Party attendees are sometimes given a password that allows them access to websites that promote the next party location, date, and time. Many times, social networking sites are used to distribute the word about large rave parties. Just go to YouTube and put in “Rave Party” as a search term or visit one of the many online rave stores, where you can purchase all your party favors and supplies. If that’s not enough, go to www.ravelinks.com, the underground rave party site. This site has links for the partygoer looking to find a party, purchase supplies, or find music for their own party, and they can even blog about their raving. The site has ads and information about all things rave.
We’re not talking about Martha Stewart’s dessert of the month or Emeril’s newest creation. We’re talking about how to mix up the latest batch of GHB or methamphetamine. It’s downright frightening how quickly one can find the recipe for a lot of very scary, illegal substances. For example, enquiring about making GHB resulted in over 679,000 search results for the infamous clear liquid, which is commonly referred to as the “date rape drug”.
Not only can you whip up the recipe, but you can find many links to the sites where you can purchase any necessary ingredients you can’t find under your bathroom sink. If reading the recipe is too difficult, there are plenty of “how-to” videos available on popular video sites.
Typing the words “make ecstasy” into a search engine returns over 9 million results. One of the sites talks about using common household items and how the “lab” can be moved from place to place easily in a small container. Another advertises making ecstasy at home.
Remember when you could walk into your local drugstore and purchase Sudafed and other similar nasal decongestants in bulk without being interrogated? Now many over-the-counter cold remedies must be requested at the pharmacy counter and are sold in limited quantities because aspiring chemists were buying cold medication in bulk in order to make their own Ecstasy in their basement labs.
During one case, we set up surveillance on a subject who had ordered 10,000 pills containing ephedrine from a large chain pharmacy. (Obviously, the pharmacy had dropped a dime to law enforcement following the unusually large and suspect order.)
We followed the suspect out of the parking lot and onto the interstate, where a carefully orchestrated motor vehicle stop was conducted by a uniformed state trooper. The suspect gave the officer consent to look in the trunk, and upon seeing the bags of pills, he asked the suspect what he was doing with the medicine. The suspect responded that he was sending the pills overseas to family members to treat their colds. That’s a lot of colds….
An Internet search for “How to make methamphetamine” returns 473,000 results. One site even advertises making methamphetamine “the proper way”. In this search, you can also find the how-to video if you are unsure in the kitchen. We found one very complete recipe that not only outlined ingredients and equipment, but also had a list of over-the-counter medication to steer clear of because they do not contain the coveted ingredients. The site also encouraged the use of distilled water so as to “do things right”. This site very courteously pointed out the flammable hazards of the process and other precautions, such as the fact that Ethyl Ether is very flammable and is heavier than air—and that it is also an anesthetic and can cause respiratory collapse if you inhale too much. It then very clearly outlines every step in the entire procedure so well that we believe anyone could give it a shot. Needless to say, this drug is made in the same clandestine laboratories utilized in the making of Ecstasy, and therefore it’s just as dangerous.
What discussion about drugs would be complete without covering the topic of marijuana, a controversial substance in regard to legislation? We will mention up front that we are adamantly opposed to the legalization of marijuana for a number of reasons, so as far as we are concerned, the following information is in the category of “illegal,” just like all the others mentioned.
The pro-marijuana site www.scamcannabis.com purports itself to be a free service “that seeks ways to expose the truth about real marijuana cannabis websites”. It’s entirely devoted to marijuana information, message boards, cannabis search engines, seed bank ratings, how to make an online purchase, and even tips to avoid getting caught by the police and defense strategies in the event one does get caught. It claims to help visitors prevent getting scammed by imposter sites and from purchasing seeds with fake seed ratings, as well as educating its visitors about falling for sites that are not selling real marijuana but rather marijuana alternatives. Obviously from a law-enforcement standpoint, this site simply seeks to justify the illegal use and sale of marijuana.
According to the website, “It’s a smart practice to start off small and find a reliable cannabis vendor by placing a few small orders with different companies. You’ll always find someone willing to deliver to anywhere in the world. Privacy should be #1 on your mind at all times”. The site then gives some warning signs, such as a vendor who brags about how long they have been in business, and advises never to buy an item through bulk email. It even warns the visitor about unauthorized credit card transactions. Reading the information on the site, it would appear as though the site was giving advice about making online shopping purchases of vitamins.
This site is accessible to anyone who can type the word “marijuana” into a search engine, even children. A search for “marijuana seeds for sale” brings up plenty of options for anyone with access to a credit card number or online account. There are also many other sites that encourage marijuana use and offer justifications for it.
It goes without saying that anyone who wants to justify their illegal drug use can certainly find others with a common interest through many avenues. Newspapers, news programs, periodicals, and other media sensationalize drug use by celebrities and politicians—not to mention movies and music. And then there is the Internet. YouTube, MySpace, newsgroups, informational sites, blogs, and chat rooms are plentiful and accessible to both adults and children. This is the only place where one can type in a drug-related search phrase and get the immediate gratification of a response within seconds. For that matter, the Internet actually provides thousands of results for a query in seconds. Is it no wonder that “marijuana” is one of the most frequently searched-for phrases online?
The phrase “buy steroids online” produced 398,000 results. With steroids being such a hot topic these days, we thought we’d point out sites such as www.buysteroids.com, which advertises “buy steroids online…. We ship discreetly, internationally, no prescription required, secure checkout, trusted vendor”. And then there’s www.steroidsexpress.com, where you can acquire European anabolic steroids “from a real online pharmacy”.
The purchase or possession of anabolic steroids in the United States is illegal without a valid prescription. It is also essentially illegal to import steroids from other countries unless the buyer is a DEA-registered importer. Many countries control anabolic steroids; however, in Thailand and Mexico steroids are available over the counter.
In September of 2007, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the arrests of 124 subjects in 27 states as a result of an international investigation into illicit anabolic steroid use. Four days of raids shut down 26 underground steroid labs across the country, with a total of 56 labs closed over the 18-month investigation. Chinese companies were targeted in “Operation Raw Deal” for supplying raw materials for these labs to produce the illegal substance. Several other countries were also identified as being involved. Six and a half million dollars and over 500 pounds of raw steroid powder were seized. During the investigation, investigators targeted online message boards where steroid use advice was given and websites that promoted the sale of the finished product. Hundreds of thousands of emails were also intercepted and compiled into databases and analyzed as part of the investigation.
Narcotics investigators may use the Internet to gather information from social networking sites, video-sharing sties, chat rooms, message boards, and emails, but they are also keenly aware that drug dealers use computers, too.
It is not uncommon for drug dealers to keep meticulous records online, so investigators know to include all computer equipment in search warrants. The drug business is a very mobile one, so home phones and cell phones also become part of the puzzle. Wire taps, which were once done with landlines (home phones) hooked up to tape recorders, are now managed completely on the computer. Software enables investigators to monitor pertinent calls in real time, date and timestamp the call, rewind for clarification, transcribe the recordings right on the computer, and manage and organize the information collected from the wiretap. Long gone are the tedious days of handing a tape recording to the administrative assistant to transcribe and logging an endless number of cassette tapes into evidence.
For the dealer, text messaging, disposable cell phones, email, and social networking are tools of the trade. For the advanced dealer, encrypted ledgers and pertinent information are stored on the computer. Larger-scale dealers use high-tech equipment for alarms and surveillance of their homes or places where business is conducted. Some dealers have equipment that will detect a body wire on an informant or undercover officer. And don’t think that a larger-scale dealer doesn’t check up on the background of new customers to verify that they are legit—search engines, reverse directories, white pages, and other information databases are employed to build a dossier on a subject. Counter-surveillance techniques are also commonly used by suppliers as a means to protect themselves from getting caught by law enforcement or being “ganked”—that is, cheated on by another dealer or customer with either fake money or bogus drugs. Remember, too, that competition between larger dealers can be very territorial and sometimes violent.
One website in particular, www.whosarat.com, boasts of being the largest online database of “rats”—that is, cooperating informants and law-enforcement agents. This site has a “rat of the week” section and a lawyer referral. Although the site is now accessible only to paid subscribers, once a member, you can access agent and informant profiles and even pertinent case law. Currently the site has over 5,000 “rat” profiles, although the accuracy and timeliness of the information is not known. From our standpoint, this type of site can be construed as having the intention of intimidating cooperating individuals, as well as being a safety issue for informants and undercover officers as well.
Once again, computer technology and the Internet is a double-edged sword, providing tools both for those involved in illegal drug activity as well as for those seeking justice.
The key here is to remember that if the drug dealers can access the information, so can your kids. If they can spell the name of a drug, they can find sources for it.
In her earlier career, Felicia was a teacher in an elementary school. One day, her students were given the assignment of searching for biographical information about children’s authors. One of the more popular authors goes by the name of “Avi,” which also happens to be a standard video format. It was all Felicia could do to shut monitors off as quickly as possible when adult videos started popping up everywhere. The school did not have any blocking software in place at the time, but the lesson was that even children who don’t intend to look up inappropriate material can easily stumble upon it. Just one more reason why parental oversight is so critical whenever kids are using computers.