The scene could be part of the Netflix series how to sell online drugs, but it happens in Argentina.It is Saturday night and Julian is about to party with his friends when he realizes that they lack something important: none bought “pastis” of ecstasy.The problem is solved in an instant.Julián Search in his pocket, draws his smartphone, opens the Telegram messaging application and access an extensive drug catalog, available 24 hours a day 365 days a year.It is no longer necessary to pilgrimage by “kiosks” of neighborhood or beg the contact of a dealer among acquaintances. Al igual que otras mercancías, cualquier droga se encuentra ahora a tan solo un clic de distancia.

It would be illusory to believe that the drug market is not being transformed by continuous technological advances, especially in the field of communications.Although today prehistoric seem to us, inventions such as container or cell phone also knew how to generate inflection points in the way drugs are manufactured, distributed and consumed.At present, a new metamorphosis is being caused by a messaging application available for any smartphone: Telegram.

Why Telegram?The answer could be given by any representative of the Argentine political leadership, a pioneer to exchange messages through this application: for their security settings.Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram not only offers messages, but a much broader menu of benefits.Among others, hide our telephone number, put a fantasy name, delete messages automatically, ban screenshots and a long etcetera that hinders any filtration or tracking work. Esto hizo que los vendedores fueran migrando su operatoria desde la calle u otras plataformas menos seguras hacia Telegram, invitando a sus compradores a unirse a una gran cantidad de grupos de compraventa.What is described in this note is based on the field work carried out within the framework of a research project on the impact of new technologies on the illegal drug market developed during 2021.

How does Drug Trade operate on Telegram?The operation is simple: the reader has to imagine a neighborhood sale group of WhatsApp, but dedicated exclusively to the sale of drugs.To access it, the prior invitation of any of its members is needed as a minimum security guarantee.Once inside, we find endless vendors that constantly send messages that advertise and offer cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, ketamine, fungi, DMT, low -recipe sales medications and how much substance can be imagined.

Telegram groups transform the “kiosk” neighborhood into an almost obsolete form of sale.The anonymity that both buyers and sellers perceive on that platform has allowed the proliferation of true entrepreneurs dedicated to finding and occupying commercial niches in the world of drugs and, above all, to compete with each other.As in any fair or shopping center, Telegram groups concentrate dozens of bidders in the same place, producing a dynamic of competition that would excite a neoclassical liberal. Para llamar la atención de los potenciales clientes, los vendedores despliegan una serie de estrategias de marketing que están a la altura de la mejor tradición publicitaria argentina: “Te ofrecemos discreción, calidad, puntualidad y buen precio.Laja [cocaine] premium, perfect for the most demanding noses.Try this line and I assure you that you do not change it anymore, ”says one of the thousands of messages sent in the groups.

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However, not everything is marketing. Los vendedores también han ido ampliando la gama de servicios que se ofrecen para mayor comodidad del cliente.Shipments are offered by delivery, sometimes free of charge, where the buyer requested it.This type of deliveries can be made by the seller itself or even by distributors of well -known applications dedicated to the cadetería or online food sale.

One of the most outstanding features of this new drug market is the possibility of paying digitally. Los servicios al consumidor llegan a tal punto que los vendedores de drogas –según las entrevistas realizadas– aceptan pagos a través de las más importantes billeteras virtuales, mediante las cuales el cliente puede pagar por transferencia, tarjetas de crédito o débito.Sellers prefer to use Fintechs accounts because they perceive that they are less regulated than traditional financial entities and, consequently, in them the movements in their accounts are less traceable.

The dynamics that are created from Telegram groups and the options that are made available to the narcotic buyer do nothing but transform the drug use experience.What could previous.Therefore, it should not be understood only as a medium change, as mobile applications such as Telegram are transforming the same drug market dynamics.

The key is in the accessibility granted by groups.The number of sellers available 24/7 and the variety of services offered by them make the speed and ease of buying greatly increase.And this obviously impacts the consumer patterns: logistics limitations disappear and the only barrier that is standing is the economy.

Lautaro's story illustrates this change: “In another era, if one night I had no dealer available, he did not buy.Now there is no way to stay without one ".

In parallel, the groups offer a variety of substances that in the previous sales modalities were difficult to achieve, thus expanding the possibilities of consumption.As Luciana says: “Anyone who wants to try fungi, in Telegram you have.I want to buy ketamine and there you have someone who sells.The DMT [a hallucinogen also called "the molecule of God"] also.Go figure.Where am I going to buy DMT now without Telegram? ”.

The possibility of contacting suppliers digitally, home delivery and digital payment are news that come to reduce one of the main characteristics of drug markets: violence.Today it is only necessary to download a free and free application, have access to a drug sales group, contact a seller and make a digital transfer.Although it is not reduced to zero because delivery necessarily implies a physical encounter, the concatenation of applications, digital services and technologies of anonymity reduce the possibilities of violence. No es necesario ir con dinero en efectivo al “quiosco” del barrio y mucho menos entablar negociaciones allí.In the final end of the chain, mobile applications and financial services facilitate relatively peaceful drug exchanges for money.

It would be a mistake, however, to think that in this illegal market it is operated without risks.The countercara of anonymity is the innumerable amount of scams that are committed.These include the delivery of amounts minor to those agreed, the supply of legal merchandise (such as grass or free sales pills) that the supplier makes through some type of drug and even request payments in advance without granting anything in return.Not having, for obvious reasons, no state instance to which to claim, the only possible act of justice is to "escracha" the scammers through comments in the different groups. Con esta acción se advierte a compradores incautos sobre el riesgo de estafa y generalmente se consigue que los administradores de los grupos expulsen al “escrachado”.

Leticia is a university student and works in a call center.His image is quite far from the stereotype of "narco" that Netflix shows us.While walking his puppy through a central square tells us how in his spare time he sells ecstasy pills on Telegram.He started in the field because he needed to stay when he was out of work, but now he uses the sale of drugs as a complement to the lean salary he obtains for his formal work.

Stories like Leticia's are repeated.In a context of economic crisis, with a decrease in purchasing power and increased unemployment, the sale of drugs by Telegram is presented as a tempting source of income for middle class young people.Freelancers, trade employees, students who receive a monthly payment and even workers from multinational companies: as registered by numerous interviews conducted, for all the sale of drugs offers additional income that serves to finance basic needs or to “give a taste”.

This shows how the illegal drug market does not only operate through criminal organizations nor is it exclusive assets of the excluded sectors.It interacts people belonging to different social sectors that find in the messaging applications a relatively safe and simple tool to obtain income with the sale of drugs in a context of long economic crisis.

This new drug market is only possible thanks to sophisticated technological developments - such as encrypted communication - that create high levels of anonymity and that greatly hinder both tracking and the application of standards.Telegram groups can be armed or eliminated in seconds and the identification of organizers and vendors is complex.Also, Telegram is not the only mobile application that carries drug trade.Tinder, Snapchat, Signal and to a lesser extent WhatsApp have also been used for these purposes.

Este panorama pone de relieve la existencia de un camino regulatorio que las tecnologías digitales y las llamadas fintechs todavía deben transitar.The current debate in the European Union about how to regulate technology companies and financial services offered by Fintechs confirms that we are not facing an exclusively Argentine problem.

Por otra parte, si se observan los organismos de control estatal, las agencias encargadas de la persecución del mercado de drogas parecen no haber tomado nota aún de los cambios que las aplicaciones han ido produciendo en ese mercado ilegal.Given the historical pattern of behavior of these agencies, it is worth asking whether in this case the State has the capacity or even the will to fight it.It is a silent phenomenon and that many benefit while running few risks.It is urgent to notice that technological innovations not only provide solutions;They also modify market dynamics and transform consumption patterns, even when it comes to illegal goods.

Dewey, sociologist and senior researcher at the University of San Galo, Switzerland, is the author of the clandestine order: politics, security forces and illegal markets in Argentina (Katz);Buzzetti is a PhD in Political Science at the National University of San Martín