Quality and validity of the data it provides justify its higher cost over other marketplaces. The platform’s popularity continues to grow, attracting both new and returning customers. Valued at approximately $15 million, Abacus Market is one of the most lucrative platforms in the dark web ecosystem.
How The ‘Craigslist Of Guns’ Helps Arm Cartels In Mexico
Despite its name, the marketplace operates primarily in English and serves a global audience. It has gained a reputation for being a reliable source of high-quality data for cybercriminals. The data shows that up to 59.9 percent of the firearms sold across the 12 examined cryptomarkets originate from the US—the world’s largest exporter of conventional weapons. A darknet marketplace claiming to be affiliated with CJNG discovered by DarkOwl analysts offers drugs for sale. CJNG is one of the strongest cartels currently operating in Mexico, and would require weapons to maintain their drug trafficking routes and control. Our analysts also found listings small arms for sale on darknet and deep web services similar to those seized by law enforcement from individuals charged with conspiring to traffic narcotics and firearms.
The rule, which has not yet been finalized, is estimated to affect 24,500 to 328,000 sellers. During the five years documented in the report, 3,400 unlicensed dealers were investigated by the ATF. They used a laptop wired to a projection screen to show video of a man from Brooklyn named James Brady, a felon who moved to Alabama and came up with a very stupid criminal scheme.

Darknet Marketplace

A June 2024 Harvard study acknowledged it was “highly likely that some weapons will go missing over the course of the conflict” but noted the difficulty in proving the extent of illicit sales. Mexican citizens have the right to bear arms in its constitution, but there’s only one gun store in the entire country. If you go, you must present six forms of identification—including proof of employment and have a clean criminal record—to purchase a gun. According to the Mexican government, 2,000 guns are smuggled into Mexico every single day. For years, if caught, straw buyers faced soft penalties but that changed in June of 2022, when President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Carlson, for example, did not cite any sources when claiming that Ukraine’s American weapons ended up on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Major Takeaways From The ATF’s First Report In 20 Years On US Gun Crime
The Justice Department says it’s aimed at sellers who are in the business of firearm sales, but the proposal quickly drew protest from gun-rights groups who contend it could ensnare regular people who sometimes sell their own guns. Gun trafficking and straw purchasing dangerously undermine states’ gun safety laws and drive the illegal firearms market. However, laws and regulations vary from state to state with most requiring a background check as well as other licenses to purchase more deadly weapons, especially fully automatic and semi-automatic rifles like AR-15s. Gun regulations in other parts of the world, such as the European Union, are stricter, resulting in limited access.
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Deakin University researchers spoke to 75 career criminals, including outlaw motorcycle gang members, drug traffickers and armed robbers serving time in prison. The dark web is facilitated by a global network of computer users who believe the internet should operate beyond the supervision of law enforcement agencies. Microstamping and ballistics identification can reduce gun violence by improving the solve rate of gun-related crimes. Gun violence is a complex problem, and while there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, we must act. Our reports bring you the latest cutting-edge research and analysis about strategies to end our country’s gun violence crisis at every level.
Gun Licenses For Sale: South Africa’s Failing Firearms Control
No, black market websites operate illegally and pose high risks of scams, fraud, and law enforcement action. Many of these come from civilian gun owners whose firearms have been lost or stolen, but many others come from state institutions. It is not known exactly how many firearms have been lost and stolen from the police, military, and other government departments, and a lack of oversight means that many losses and thefts go unrecorded. Since 2018, Black Market Guns has been a leading name in the sale of firearms, ammunition, and tactical gear.
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Guns may be small-fry when compared to the overall dark web trade, and especially that of narcotics—the 811 listings the researchers analyzed made up only 0.5 percent of all item listings scraped from the markets—but this space of black market weapons is probably larger than many may think. Based on our observations from analysis on dark web data using Lunar, we’ve identified the top 7 marketplaces on the dark web in 2025. We developed Lunar to monitor the deep and dark web, including dark web marketplace sites.
“You have the availability of multiple dealers so you can compare products – and customers can review the dealer’s product, too.” Building on this momentum, Telegram in March announced that channel owners would start to receive 50% of any revenue generated by ads in their channels, with all payments settled on TON. It also revealed its Mini Apps feature, which allows users to build apps within Telegram, in a bid to become increasingly like the super app WeChat, which boasts over 1.3 billion mostly Chinese users. I agree with CJZ16 and Beowulf1 on how awesome it would be to have animated people running around little animated fields and other buildings. However I also realize that that could have the potential to add too much to the game and make a nice simple game really complicated.
- Classic darknet markets sell diverse illegal goods; data stores focus on leaked or stolen data like credentials, databases, and ID records.
- We uphold our promise of worldwide shipping, allowing enthusiasts worldwide to effortlessly access our diverse range of firearms, ammunition, and accessories, all while keeping your identity private.
- The three agents then explained that about 80 percent of the crime guns found in New York City come from out of state.
- Expressing disbelief, he remarked, “Everything about this war is a lie,” and reacted with alarm to his own allegations, stating, “They’re selling weapons to drug cartels? Are you kidding? This is a nightmare.”
- “Straw purchasing is a hot-button topic,” says Wes Winkel, owner of the Ellwood Epps sporting goods store in Severn, Ont.
- Apart from the dark web markets that are operating online today, some raided platforms influenced many markets.

Pistols were the most common item for sale, followed by rifles and sub-machine guns, the report reads. Of the 811 listings, 41 percent were for firearms; 27 percent were for arms-related digital products; and 22 percent were for ammunition. The most common firearms sold were pistols (84 percent) while rifles and submachine guns made up 10 and 6 percent of the listings, respectively.
However, using DarkOwl Vision to explore these relationships offers a snapshot into both the physical and digital realms of illicit goods and exploitation that often accompany each other. Looking at arms, drugs, and human trafficking online ties into the very real-world implications of these practices. While there is a long history of connections between drugs and weapons, DarkOwl analysts were curious if a similar relationship could be observed between weapons and human trafficking, and drugs and human trafficking.

Top 7 Dark Web Marketplaces
DarkOwl analysts have previously released a report detailing the presence of alleged cartel-affiliated marketplaces on the darknet and detailed some of their product offerings including sophisticated concealed shipping. To address this crisis, governments and international organizations must collaborate on stricter regulations, technological advancements, and targeted enforcement efforts. By tackling the supply chains and loopholes that enable the illegal arms trade, we can take meaningful steps toward reducing the devastating impact of black-market guns on communities worldwide.
In doing so, DarkOwl analysts uncovered a confluence between the three economies, indicating a possible interrelationship between the supply routes moving drugs, weapons, and people around the world. The second-highest share of firearm-trafficking cases investigated by ATF was straw purchases, when someone buys a gun for a person who can’t get it legally themselves. According to one federal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “ghost guns” or “self-made firearms” have become an especially prominent cause for concern in recent years, despite being perfectly legal for law-abiding citizens. Reports from Ukraine Oversight, a U.S. government website tracking military assistance, indicate that while some weapons have gone missing in combat zones, there is no evidence of significant black market sales at the level Carlson suggests. A vocal critic of U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Carlson provided no evidence to support his claim. Expressing disbelief, he remarked, “Everything about this war is a lie,” and reacted with alarm to his own allegations, stating, “They’re selling weapons to drug cartels? Are you kidding? This is a nightmare.”