Can Hong Kong’s police fight 'Dark Net'? Surge in illegal drug sites as experts warn city is 'ripe for addiction'

As drug dealers jump on the e-commerce bandwagon and begin offering their wares online, experts warn that Hong Kong police may be unprepared to tackle so-called "Dark Net" markets where anything from narcotics to guns can be bought and sold anonymously. 

Despite some recent success stories such as the 2013 raid on the Silk Road online drug market and the arrest of its shadowy figurehead Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht, new sites are springing up every day, with many offering illegal goods for sale in Hong Kong. 

Earlier this year, the city's Customs and Excise Department reported a staggering 186 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of drug seizures, and police hailed success in "eradicating" drug networks in the city's famed party district, Lan Kwai Fong. 

However, experts warn that authorities may be ignoring a developing global trend of drug trafficking, like other industries, moving online. 

According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Dark Net cryptomarkets (see glossary) dealing in narcotics are generating more than US$100 million in annual sales worldwide, or between US$300,000 and US$500,000 of drug sales per day.

A UK Parliamentary report produced in March said that there were around 2.5 million daily users of Tor, the anonymising software used to shield web traffic from surveillance, avoid internet restrictions, and access the Dark Net.