Countering Drug Sale Street Advertising

Andrey Petrovich Fil’chenko

, Vladimir Yurievich Zhandrov

and James E. Gonzales

Federal State Public Educational Establishment of Higher Education «Management Academy of the Ministry of the

Interior of the Russian Federation», Moscow, Russia

Federal state educational institution of higher education «Moscow University of the Ministry of internal Affairs of the

Russian Federation named after V. Ya. Kikotya», Moscow, Russia

Chicago Police, Chicago, USA

Keywords:

Criminal law, operative and investigative activities, drug advertising, drug propagation, illegal drug

trafficking, drug sales, drug sales on the Internet, illicit advertising

Abstract: The article focuses on finding a solution to the problem of increasing the effectiveness of counteracting

outdoor advertising of drug marketing resources on DeepWeb sites, placed on the facades of buildings and

structures. The research sets and solves the following objectives: to obtain an unfavourable forecast of an

increase in street advertising of DeepWeb drug sales resources and to identify the factors contributing to the

spread of drug street advertising, the main ones being excessive bureaucracy and inconsistencies in the

existing regulations. The main research methods were the analysis of data from official statistical reports and

the study of court and other procedural instruments in cases of drug advertisement and drug sales locations.

Based on the results obtained, a systematic approach has been developed to address the problem of increasing

the effectiveness of counteracting drug street advertising, including specific measures of organizational and

legal nature. The research materials expand the abstract concept of the system of prevention of drug crime,

and are of value for improving criminal and administrative legislation.

1 INTRODUCTION

The transfer of the marketing of drugs and other

potentially dangerous psychoactive substances into

the Deep Web, a collection of web pages on the

World Wide Web that are indexed by search engines,

has led to the development of a criminal marketing

system with distribution of roles for those involved in

the drug business.

The development of a system of sales of illicit

substances in a non-intrusive way that makes it

possible to avoid direct contact between the seller and

the buyer has made it necessary for traffickers to find

ways to inform potential drug users about how to

purchase drugs. Thus, the drug trafficking has

expanded to include the advertising of both the

banned substances themselves and their places of sale

on websites indexed by software that allows to

establish an anonymous network connection in

DeepWeb (Tor, VPN and other circumvention tools).

Moreover, drug advertisements have been seen on

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0099-731X

https://orcid.org0000-0002-1353-2837

platforms supported by smartphones, with limited

content, which attracted research interest (M.G.

Breuner, M.A. Pumper, M.A. Moreno 2014; J.E.

Lange, J. Daniel, K. Homer, M.B. Reed, J.D. Clapp

2010; M.J. Barratt, M. Allen, S. Lenton 2014; T.

Nguyen, M.E. Larsen, B. O’Dea, D. Phung, S.

Venkatesh, H. Christensen 2017).

In addition to the drug distributor ("kladman",

"treasureman" or "dropper"), an independent figure of

the advertiser ("stenciler") has emerged, who in

addition to promoting drug use on the Internet and

messengers, also provides outdoor advertising on the

facades of buildings and structures for drug marketing

outlets operating in the Deep Web.

In recent years, researchers have increasingly

addressed the problem of illegal advertising of

controlled substances. The research subjects were the

international marketing of illicit drugs (Felipe

Thomaz, 2020), managing illicit online

pharmacies(Hui zhao, Sowmyasri Muthupandi,

Soundar Kumara, 2020) and violations in the

promotion of controlled (including narcotic)

314

Filchenko, A., Zhandrov, V. and Gonzales, J.

Countering Drug Sale Street Advertising.

DOI: 10.5220/0010636000003152

In Proceedings of the VII International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages

314-318

ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854

medicines (Katherine A P Zagrodney, Natasha Y

Sheikhan, Ashlyn Pinto, Tania Sheikhan, Theodore J

Witek Jr, 2021), punishment for the propaganda and

illegal advertising of drugs and their analogues

(O.Yu. Stepanova, 2020), machine training to

identify illegal drug traffickers on social networks

(Jiawei Li, Qing Xu, Neal Shah, Tim K Mackey

2019;) the purposes and consequences for young

people of using illicit drug content on the Internet

(Keir Irwin-Rogers 2019). However, the problem of

drug street advertising, while relevant, has received

little research attention.

The prevalence of street drug advertisements is

constantly being discussed in the media and on

Internet websites. The lack of official data on the

volume of destruction of signs and images advertising

the sale of drugs can be partly compensated for by

official statistics from the Judicial Department of the

Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which

maintains statistics under Article 6.13 of the Code of

Administrative Offences ("RF AC") "Promoting, or

psychotropic substances, or precursors thereof, plants

containing narcotics, or psychotropic substances, or

precursors thereof and their parts containing

narcotics, or psychotropic substances, or precursors

thereof, containing new potentially dangerous

psychoactive substances" (see Table 1).

Table 1: Judgements in administrative offence cases under

Article 6.13 of the RF AC in 2016-2019

Year

Total cases

considered

by the

number of

individuals

Total

persons

punished

Individuals

punished

2020 (1st

half)

234 161 142

2019 457 328 287

2018 263 187 146

2017 173 115 91

2016 136 88 58

The data in Table 1 indicate the dynamics of

administrative prosecution for the promotion of drugs

and places of their sale:

a) steady increase in the number of cases heard

under Article 6.13 of the Code of Administrative

Offences of the Russian Federation every year – 3.4

times in the last four years;

b) Improvement in the quality of prepared

procedural materials, as evidenced by the increase in

the proportion of persons punished among all those

against whom such cases were heard (i64.7% n 2016

vs 71.8% in 2019). This indicator shows a reduction

in the number of cases returned for the correction of

deficiencies in the reports, as well as in the number of

rulings and decisions, decisions on the exemption

from criminal responsibility (including verbal

reprimands), and relief from punishment;

c) Increase in the proportion of individuals in the

structure of all those brought to administrative

liability from 65.9% in 2016 to 87.5% in 2019. In

2020, the figure was 88.2%, indicating a continued

negative trend.

These statistics cover all types of advertising,

including, in addition to street advertising,

advertising on clothing, personal items, as well as

advertising on the Internet and messengers. At the

same time, the overall trend of illicit advertising

activity in the drug trafficking is clear – it is

increasing annually, as evidenced by the examination

of the digital footprints left by perpetrators (Oskar

Enghoff, Judith Aldridge 2019; D. Décary-Hétu, J.

Aldridge 2015).

In recent years, Russia has recorded a decline in

drug use and drug users. The number of drug addicts

registered in Russian drug dependence clinics has

decreased from 495,982 in 2016 to 401233 in 2019,

i.e. by 19.1%. The number of occasional and regular

drug users has also decreased, from 2.3 million in

2016 to 1.9 million in 2019, a reduction of 17.4%.

However, other data indicate that up to 20.3% of

minors aged 16 have tried drugs (James White1,

Steven Bell, G David Batty 2020). Sometimes this is

due to the fact that drug use is politically and socially

motivated (Dung Tuan Truong, Bang Duc

Nguyen,Oanh Van Nguyen, Du Cong Pham &Hai

Thanh Luong 2020).

Clearly, the reduction in demand for the purchase

of drugs does not give rise to an optimistic prognosis

for a reduction in drug advertising, but rather signals

an expected increase in its intensity and volume in the

future. Criminal groups involved in the drug industry

will seek to rebuild and expand their lost market

through new, unconventional approaches to drug

promotion. Of course, standard propaganda – videos,

graffiti, signs and banners, web blogs and media

control - should not be forgotten (Howard Campbell

2012), as well as research on the advertising content

and the content of standard images (Patrícia C

MastroianniI, II; Amanda Cristina R VazIII; Ana

Regina NotoIV; José Carlos F GaldurózIV 2008).

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The methodological basis of the study was the

dialectical method of understanding, which allowed

Countering Drug Sale Street Advertising

315

for a comprehensive examination of the problem of

counteracting street advertising of drug sales. The

statistical method was used in developing a prediction

of the involvement of new entrants in drug marketing.

In identifying the conditions conducive to the spread

of drug street advertising, the method used was the

examination of court and other procedural

instruments in administrative and criminal cases of

drug advertising. Aristotelian and logical-legal

methods were used to formulate proposals for

improving the organization of counteracting drug

street advertising as well as for supplementing and

amending the existing legal acts in this field. The

system-structural method allowed for a systematic

approach to improve the effectiveness of

counteracting street advertising of drug dealing in the

Deep Web.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The conditions conducive to the proliferation of street

advertising of drug sale can be divided into four

groups:

1. Accessibility and variety of locations for the

advertising inscriptions. Graffiti with links to Internet

resources created for the purpose of sale of narcotic

drugs are displayed on the facades of houses,

buildings, temporary construction sites, fences,

outbuildings, various elements of landscaping,

bridges, heating mains, elevated and underground

crossings, bus stops and other facilities. All of these

objects that make up the infrastructure are in walking

distance, are not always guarded, and are represented

by a large number of possible choices, so it is not

always possible to predict which objects will have

new inscriptions on them.

2. Minimum costs for the production of

advertising content. Creation of graffiti does not

require special, including artistic, skills, time or

material resources – painting products are not

expensive and are readily available.

3. A relatively long period of performance of the

advertising function by the image. The longevity of a

drug advertisement depends on a number of

circumstances, the most important of which are:

– lack of appeals to the authorities due to citizens’

ignorance, underestimation or misinterpretation of

the significance of an information message or image.

Most graffiti drug-related advertisements disguise

themselves as innocuous, looking like a random

assortment of numbers and English letters, thus

misleading the lay public as to their criminal nature;

– the reluctance to take an active civil position in

the fight against drug advertising, caused by

indifference to what is happening, perception of drug

addiction and drug trafficking not as a social problem,

but as a permissible part of daily life;

– bureaucratic nature of taking measures to

destroy the discovered inscription or image. The

problem with removing the graffiti is resolved more

quickly if such advertising causes significant damage

to the owners of buildings, structures, vehicles and

spoils the expensive coating of the facilities. Such

actions carry signs of vandalism, which is punishable

under Article 214 of the Criminal Code of Russian

Federation. A decision on a crime report under Article

144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is taken within

three days of its receipt. The fate of the image as well

as the compensation procedure for the damage caused

is then also determined on based on this decision.

The lifespan of an advertisement may be much

longer if it does not cause obvious substantial harm,

or if the owner is indifferent to the necessity of

destroying it. In accordance with the Federal Law No.

59-FZ dated May 2, 2006 on the procedure for

considering appeals from the citizens of the Russian

Federation, appeals must be registered within three

days of their receipt by the addressee (Part 3 (8)), and

then dealt with within 30 days (Part 12 (1)). The same

deadline is set out in par. 91 of the Order of the

Russian Interior Ministry No. 707 dated September

12, 2013 "On approval of the instruction on the

organization of consideration of citizens’ appeals in

the system of the ministry of internal affairs of the

Russian Federation". Thus, the destruction of street

drug advertisements as a matter of citizen complaints,

rather than as an urgent response to stop an

administrative offence, allows the images to survive

for a very long time;

– citizens’ lack of awareness of their rights and of

how to deal with possible administrative offences

when they witness drug-related graffiti being made by

stencilers or when they observe drug advertisements

already placed in their neighbourhood. Citizens are in

no hurry to take the initiative in painting over the

suspicious texts and images on infrastructure for the

fear of being held administratively liable for

destroying or damaging someone else’s property

(Article 7.17 of the AC RF) or disorderly conduct

(Article 20.1 of the AC RF);

Such concerns may be well-founded, since

painting, for example, on urban facades requires

compliance with the norms established by the

Ministry of Construction and Housing and

Communal Services of the Russian Federation, as

well as by the executive authorities of the constituent

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entities of the Federation. In particular, painting must

be carried out in accordance with a colour passport,

and the painting work itself must not be detrimental

to the technical condition and the architectural and

urban character of the buildings. A citizen is not

always able to take all these factors into account,

which can put the results of unauthorized painting

over the drug advertisements at odds with accepted

standards;

– preference for the raiding nature of the

destruction of street drug advertising by the internal

affairs authorities. The elimination of drug

advertisements is usually carried out as part of

organized drug prevention activities. The signal for

such activities is an increase in the intensity of reports

from concerned citizens about the emergence of

graffiti. It should be recalled that the repression of

administrative offences is a duty of a police officer,

subject to permanent performance under paragraph

11, Part 1 Article 12 of the Federal Law No. 3-Fz

"Concerning the police", dated February 2011.

Failure to fulfill this duty on a day-to-day basis allows

drug graffiti to exist from raid to raid.

4. Inconsistency in the scope of responsibility with

the benefits of the "stenciler". A study of

advertisements on DeepWeb for offers to promote

network drug marketing through street advertising

showed that the average rate of a stenciler is 17-19

thousand rubles for 100 inscriptions, confirmed by a

performance guarantee in the form of a photo report.

The settlement is proposed to be made through

Bitcoin transactions. According to law enforcement

experts, those involved in street drug advertisements

earn up to 60,000 robles a week in this way.

Sometimes the equivalent of the value of the drug is

used as the means of settlement.

Other, specific ways of promoting the drug shop

advertising are also used, such as anonymous print

runs of T-shirts with the address or "trademark" of the

customer’s online shop, producing stickers, and

placing advertisements on information boards not

related to the sale of drugs. In the latter case,

advertising is used not only to raise the ranking of

one’s own site on an electronic platform, but also to

lower the ranking of competitors by publishing

discrediting advertisements. The cost of this kind of

advertising averages 50,000 rubles or more.

At the same time, according to court statistics, in

2020 97.5% of the people who were punished

administratively under Article 6.13 of the AC RF

were fined, with the maximum amount of fine,

according to the first part of the mentioned Article

(covering street drug advertising), does not exceed 5

thousand rubles. In the remaining 2.5 per cent of

cases, a warning was issued. If the perpetrator is a

minor, the fine is reduced and becomes insignificant.

In addition, Russia has not yet introduced criminal

liability for those who disseminate information on

drug distribution sites on the Internet.

It is clear that the existing legislative means are

unable to create an adequate barrier to the escalation

of illegal street drug advertising activities and need to

be improved.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The identification of conditions conducive to the

street advertisement of drug sale makes it possible to

formulate proposals for their elimination. Measures to

counteract the street advertising of drug sales should

be:

1) in the legal area:

– increasing the administrative liability for

advertising drugs and places of their sale on the

Internet, making it unprofitable for both adults and

minors to participate in these activities;

– introduction of criminal liability for systematic

participation in the promotion of drugs and

advertising of electronic drug sales sites;

2) in the organizational area:

– inclusion of the detection and destruction of

street drug advertisements as an independent line of

public order maintenance by the internal affairs

authorities. Detection of street drug advertising

should be accompanied by the police officer’s duty to

report on the facts to the drug control unit covering

the territory concerned. Assessment of this

information as significant evidence of organized drug

sales using information and telecommunication

technologies should be considered sufficient grounds

for the full implementation of investigative measures;

– development of citizens’ initiative in

counteracting drug advertisement, organization of

anti-drug events and flash mobs, support of social

movements able to engage in the activities aimed ant

countering street drug advertising. Volunteers should

be provided with certified and safe spray paint and

harmless stencils with symbols, such as anti-drug

advertisements. In order to avoid excessive damage

to property owners when removing graffiti, such

activities should be supervised by representatives of

the Interior Ministry;

– creation and promotion of urban Internet portals

designed to process citizens’ appeals to eliminate

illegal advertisements (and not just that). Today such

an experience is being tested in major Russian cities.

Countering Drug Sale Street Advertising

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