'Google Maps' for drug dealers launches online - showing nearest cannabis sellers

New 'deep web' site Map Dealers means that cannabis users can search a map for their closest dealer

Drug dealers have taken to the internet to advertise their services and whereabouts, which is certain to interest law enforcement agents.

A site called Map Dealers Legalise World, has appeared recently and is rapidly filling up with dealers who are happy to advertise their whereabouts.

No transactions take place on the site, which means that it appears to be on the right side of the law - for now at least.

It’s a new part of the ‘deep web’ – the shadowy area of the internet where criminal activity is carried out.

The site works as a Google Maps interface, and dealers can add themselves to it, along with some information about the drugs they sell and the areas in which they operate, along with their contact details.

It claims to list dealers who only sell cannabis, although some listings are appearing with other drugs on offer.

One dealer on Map Dealers has waxed lyrical about his product in a bid to attract buyers.

He says: “This quality Skywalker phenome has been grown under the African sun at a secret location deep in the Swaziland mountains. Outdoor grown weed has a deeper colour and some seed is to be expected”.

Until now, drug transactions on the deep web have rarely been carried out so openly, with dealers mailing their goods to buyers, who usually pay using untraceable bitcoins.

Usually the dealers are only contactable by a encrypted messaging service or another part of the deep web, but some dealers on the site have listed their mobile phone numbers.

It remains to be seen how long Map Dealers will survive – it’s reminiscent of drug-trading site Silk Road, which has been closed down in both of its incarnations.

Users of Silk Road lost any bitcoins that they had stored when the site was shut down, and online drug traders might find that the more introductory nature of Map Dealers will suit them better.

Or, the authorities might find out who is behind it and put it out of business.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/google-maps-drug-dealers-launches-4727863 01/12/2014