The dark web, consisting of a multitude of darknet markets, is part of the deep web, and can be used for a large number of illegal activities, including drug trafficking.

• The dark web is part of the deep web and can be accessed using specialized tools such as the TOR browser; while access itself is not illegal, it hosts a range of illicit activities, including the sale of drugs.
• Darknet markets on the dark web, according to one estimate, accounted for US$ 2.5 billion in sales (mostly related to drugs) in 2025, equivalent to around 1.6 per cent of the overall volume of sales related to criminal activities on the dark web in 2025 or 0.01 per cent of all on-chain transactions (legal and illegal) with crypto-currencies.
• More broadly, the dark web is used for a wide range of purposes – both illegal (e.g., cybercrime, sanctions evasion) and legitimate. In 2025, the most valuable illegal activity on the dark web was not related to drugs but to attempts to evade economic sanctions.