3 ms·

I wonder at what point the Drug Cartels just will start running Darknet sites themselves. It would be a new thing for them, but many of the Mexican cartels are

• WildUtah 11y ago
  "Drug Cartels just will start running Darknet sites" It's not their comparative advantage. Cartels have big overhead expenses in men with guns. Mexican wages are rapidly converging on first world wages and men have to be paid to take risks. Mexican youth police trainees are already getting US$3-4 an hour and that rises rapidly with experience. No, I expect darknet sites will mostly be small time individual competent tech operators earning their eff ewe money and then destroying the evidence or continuing until greed gets them jailed. Or perhaps some will follow the model of the true Dread Pirate Roberts and pass on the torch. Of course, operating from a honey badger foreign country is always an option, too.
  • jordanthoms 11y ago
    That's an interesting point. One could look at Cartels as also having a comparative advantage in subverting the power of political and judicial processes, which does give then an advantage in running darknet sites. Your prediction on who will be running the sites seems credible though - I imagine the groups running them will become increasingly sophisticated over time, the potential profits certainly justify it.