CROSS-border police operations targeting the dark web have had a significant impact on the availability of opioids, in particular the lethal drug fentanyl, according to a new ANU report. “Since their inception, dark web markets have continued to evolve and they present unique problems to law enforcement agencies,” says emeritus professor at the ANU Cybercrime Observatory, Roderic Broadhurst. “We found evidence that shutdowns resulting from transnational police operations dispersed and displaced markets, vendors and buyers, and it also reduced the availability of these drugs and their prices rose on the markets.” When a darknet market is closed or a specific product is targeted, the report commissioned by the Australian Institute of Criminology’s (AIC) Serious and Organised Crime Research Laboratory, found the impact is complex and subtle.