Crimes Committed On The Dark Web

ABSTRACT 

The research presents a study on crimes committed via the dark web, or what is known as the dark web. It begins by defining cybercrime and explaining what the dark web browser is and how it differs from the deep web. and how the dark web has become a virtual world for committing crimes and a safe haven for perpetrators, as the information and messages exchanged on it are encrypted and not visible to ordinary Internet users, in addition to the difficulty of tracking them and revealing the identity of the perpetrators. 

The study presents the methods and types of crimes committed via the Dark Web browser. It also addresses existing legislation to combat these crimes and questions the effectiveness of existing laws and the ability of law enforcement authorities to control such crimes. Finally, the research presents proposed legal and security recommendations to address this phenomenon. 

Introduction: In recent decades, the world has witnessed remarkable developments in information technology, which has led to the internet becoming a virtual world in the lives of individuals, especially teenagers. Although it has provided them with excellent educational, training, and entertainment opportunities, it has also given rise to new types of crime that go beyond the traditional boundaries of crime. 

Crimes committed via the Internet are among the most significant challenges facing society and its members, as there are various methods and forms of crimes committed by perpetrators and teenagers, ranging from murder and violence, especially what is known as violence for pleasure or “delightful harm,” to suicide while engaging in these violent experiences, and other crimes such as the sexual exploitation of children in pornography, blackmail,and electronic fraud against individuals. 

What further complicates matters is that perpetrators commit or facilitate these crimes through the dark web , a complex and mysterious network that constitutes a virtual world for perpetrators and makes it difficult to track and identify its users because the data and information circulating on it is encrypted and cannot be accessed or viewed by ordinary Internet users. This places the burden of detecting these crimes and their perpetrators on law enforcement authorities. This raises a legal issue regarding the adequacy of national criminal legislation to address this phenomenon, especially given the cross-border nature of cybercrime. 

INTRODUCTION 

1. What are cybercrimes? 

Nowadays the internet is very essential in our lives . Scientists are developing new technologies everyday which creates more opportunities for more new crimes and new methods to commit them, and with how fast the virtual world is advancing on the dark side it’s facilitating cybercrimes . 

Cybercrimes,especially through the internet, have grown in importance as the computer has become central to commerce,entertainment and government. 

According to Cambridge scholars cybercrimes are defined as: the use of computers as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud,trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property,stealing identities,or violating privacy.

To say that the new technology is sufficient to create this criminal behaviours would be falsely These crimes existed way before the digital world just using different methods that suited each era. These types of attacks don’t take place physically ,they do take place on the virtual body, which contains our virtual identities . Virtual identities represent our databases on the internet , corporation or government. They are essential for our daily usage in the internet world.1 

The UK government National Cyber Security Strategy defines cyber security as: Cyber dependent crimes:crimes that can be committed only through the use of information and communication technology (ICT) devices ,where the devices are both the tool for committing the crime, and the target of the crime,(e.g developing and propagating malware for financial gain ,hacking,to steal,damage,distort or destroy data and/network or activity). Cyber-enabled crimes:traditional crimes which can be increased in scale or reach by the use of computers,computer networks,or other forms of ICT (such as cyber-enabled fraud and data theft)2 

2. Research objective 

Dark web crimes are threatening to public safety. Technology is developing rapidly on the other hand the legislations and statutes are not sufficient to cover all the new methods of crimes, not up to date with the technology. The issue lies that the offenders commit their crimes through the dark web anonymously where offenders establish a secret network in a virtual environment to communicate through exchanging data, informations as well as other means to conduct their crimes beyond the supervision of the government 

3.Significance 

This research is essential as in today’s world the technology is developing rapidly,alongside opening new opportunities for new methods of crimes . Moreover these types of crimes committed by criminals through the virtual world of dark web is considered a challenge for the government as it’s a safe zone to individuals who commit money laundering,selling and buying drugs,trading illegal pornography,stealing credit cards and passports,threatening and blackmailing. All of these mentioned crimes threaten the public safety,and the sovereignty and integrity of a nation.country and are committed by criminals who mostly commit these crimes as it contains some type of elasticity and is considered fun. 

4. BACKGROUND 

A . Online Market Places For Illegal Items: 

Online marketplaces are used by criminals not to just trade cyber skills,tools,and techniques,but to trade and sell other illegal items such as stolen credit card details,drugs and firearms.These marketplaces are often “hidden”online,and facilitated by individuals coordinating the trading of these goods .3 

1. Dark Web 

The dark is the safe place for criminals to commit such crimes.

The dark websites are not indexed by search engines and theoretically possible to visit with complete anonymity. The dark web isn’t the same as the deepweb,Infact the dark web is a small fraction of the deepweb,which contains mostly benign sites, such as password-protected-e-mail accounts, certain parts of paid subscription services like Netflix, and sites accessible only through online forms. Both are highly effective.4 

Dark web is defined by Cambridge as parts of the internet that are encrypted that can’t be found using ordinary search engines,and that are sometimes used for criminal activities. We can also define as every illegal behaviour committed by a criminal using the dark web internet using unknown search engines to the normal persons,the data and information thereon is neither indexed nor subject to scrutiny;its content cannot be accessed,disclosed,nor can its users,or visitors be identified,thereby ensuring confidentiality and their identity remains anonymous through it, criminals is able to commit acts that are prohibited by law.5 

C.The History of dark web 

During the 1990s,researchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) begin working on online routing technology to protect government communication,which is the core principle that enables TOR to maintain user anonymity and was funded by the US Federal government, Apart from that it served to allow freedom of thought and expression for citizens and journalists who lived under oppressive regimes,and keep others out of danger by protecting their anonymity .6 

The project of onion routing continued to develop through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA until the US Navy patented the onion routing in 1998.6 At March 2000, the earliest form of the modern dark web arose when the Irish student “Ian Clarke” developed and released “Freenet”,which offers anonymous communication online via decentralized network of Freenet users.However,the software that popularized the dark web is the Onion Router known as (TOR),which launched in September 20,2002.The US Government laboratory team developed Tor for the members of the Intelligence community to use the internet without the risk of being identified.7 

In 2004 the US government made Tor open source,as they knew it would be worthless if it was only used by the intelligence community solely.7 

Then they continued funding the maintenance through a nonprofit named The Tor project. As anticipated Tor gained an enormous amount of popularity among computer enthusiasts,advocates,and journalists. At the same time, Tor became an effective shield for illicit sales of heavy controlled goods such as guns and drugs.6 

In addition, The Tor network gave hackers, terrorists,and distributors of illegal porn a secure method of communication. The term dark web first appeared in print in a 2009 newspaper article describing these criminal applications.6 

The rise of cryptocurrency especially, The BITCOIN,which significantly increased the dark web’s illegal trade. 

5. Legal Frame Work 

5A .Article 99 of the Egyptian Constitution.

Any violation of the personal freedom or privacy of citizens, or other public rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the law, shall constitute a crime for which neither criminal nor civil proceedings arising therefrom shall be subject to the statute of limitations, and the injured party shall have the right to bring criminal proceedings directly. The state guarantees fair compensation to the victim of the violation, and the National Council for Human Rights shall report any violation of these rights to the public prosecutor and may intervene in civil proceedings on behalf of the victim at his request, all in accordance with the law provisions .

5B. Statutory law 

First, there is the law on combating cybercrimes. Compared to the rapid development of the technology this law was issued lately to combat cybercrimes. 

As mentioned this study seeks to identify and examine the existing legal provisions that address the most prominent crimes committed via the dark web. 

In the area of combating crimes that violate public values and morals, Chapter Three of the aforementioned law deals with crimes related to violations of privacy and illegal information content. 

Article 25 of the law criminalizes all acts that violate any of the principles or family values of Egyptian society, stating: 

” Anyone who violates any of the principles or family values of Egyptian society, violates the sanctity of private life, sends numerous electronic messages to a specific person without their consent, or provides personal data to a system or website for the promotion of goods or services without their consent, or publishes information, news, or images via the information network or by any means of information technology, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than six months and a fine of not less than fifty thousand pounds and not exceeding one hundred thousand pounds, or by one of these two penalties. personal data to a system or website to promote goods or services without their consent, or published through the information network or by any means of information technology information, news, images, or the like that violate the privacy of any person without their consent, whether the published information is true or false.” 

5. C. International Instruments. 

The United Nations convention against cybercrimes was adopted by the general assembly of the United Nations on 24 December 2024 in NewYork. The convention is the first global treaty on this matter ,which provides states a range of measures to be undertaken to prevent and combat cybercrime. 

The general assembly established the AD HOC committee to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communication Technologies for criminal purposes,which approved a draft convention in August, 2024. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime serves as the general secretariat to the Ad Hoc committee.8 

6. Analysis

I will discuss two cases first the famous Ross Ulbricht Case and the second case is also a very popular one in the MENA Region 

The Silk Road Case 

The silk road was essentially a dark web market place for drugs.Users could buy their products with what’s known as Bitcoin. 

The market place was created by Ross known as “Dread Pirate Roberts”on the site . Following his graduation he was unsatisfied with his regular day job and his legitimate attempts at entrepreneurship continually fell through. That’s when ,In February 2001, Ross Ulbricht founded what is believed to be the dark web’s first black market,Silk Road, where people could buy and sell what they want. Ulbricht was arrested in October 2003 by The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Volle, 2026)7 

Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. The FBI shut down the Silk road in October 2013 On May 25, 2015 Ulbricht was sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years with a possibility of parole. Later In 2025 Trump granted him a pardon. (Trump Pardons Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht, 2025)9 

The Silk Road case , UNITED STATE vs Ulbricht 

B.Issue 

Did Ulbricht violate the U.S Federal Criminal Law by creating the Silk Road online marketplace to facilitate the buying and selling of illegal goods,money laundering anonymously through the dark web platform? 

Rule 

1.Narcotics distribution (21U.S.Code § 841- prohibited Acts A)10

It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to manufacture,distribute,or dispense,or possess with intent to manufacture,distribute,or dispense, a controlled substance;or to create,distribute, or dispense, or dispense,or possess with intent to distribute or dispense, a counterfeit substance. 

2.Narcotics distribution(21U.S.Code §848) Continuing criminal enterprise11 Any person who engages in a continuing criminal enterprise shall be imprisoned for life and fined in accordance with subsection,if such person is the principal administrator, organizer, or leader of the enterprise or is one of several such principal administrators, organizers, or leaders. 3.18 U.S. Code § 1956 – (Laundering of monetary instruments)12

Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity; or with intent to engage in conduct constituting a violation of section 7201 or 7206 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under State or Federal law,shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction shall be considered to be one involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all of which are part of a single plan or arrangement. 

Application 

As mentioned before Ulbricht designed,developed the Silk Road website under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” in addition the silk road was a hidden Tor darkweb marketplace which enabled anonymous purchase and sale of illegal drugs,forged documents,and used Bitcoin as an exchange method. The operation demonstrated a strong intent and knowledge that the platform was being used to perform illegal activities.Making the Code 21U.S.Code § 841applicable .10 

Ulbricht according to the federal investigation did not directly sell the drugs himself,however, he facilitated the road to selling them through the online market place via dark web.Not only he facilitated the selling of these drugs he also collected the commissions on these sales and supervised technical administrators and moderators . 

Moreover, Bitcoin transactions for illegal goods constituted unlawful activity collected th key elements for 18 U.S. Code § 1956 – (Laundering of monetary instruments).12

Not to mention the usage of fake identities that supported charges under the U.S Code §1028

Conclusion 

Ulbricht being the one to manage and control the Silk Road Online Market that established narcotics and facilitated its purchase through an anonymous identity,money laundering using Bitcoin and digital transactions constituted a lot of charges against him which resulted in the jury convicting Ulbricht with two life sentences plus 40 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole . 

In January 2025, Donald Trump the U.S president granted him an unconditional pardon.

2 .The second one is the a joint INTERPOL Case Between Egypt and Kuwait The Shubra El-Kheima Kid 

One of the most important cases in this era that shed the light on how dangerous the dark web became. 

Overview 

A preparator A who is 15 years old Egyptian student residing in Kuwait communicated with a local Egyptian man who worked in a local coffee through the dark web instructed the local perpetrator to select a child ,lure the child ,kidnap him to kill him and remove him organs in addition to broadcasting the operation via the dark web and promised a payment of 5 million egyptian pound in exchange. 

Issue 

Did the defendants commit kidnapping by deception? 

Whether the 15 year old defendant is held liable for his crimes? 

Whether the conducted crime by the two suspects constitutes premeditated murder, kidnapping by deception and broadcasting via the dark web? 

Rule 

Article 4 in law 175 of Combating Cybercrime 201813 

The competent Egyptian authorities shall facilitate cooperation with their counterparts in foreign countries within the framework of ratified international, regional, and bilateral agreements or on

the basis of the principle of reciprocity in the exchange of information, which shall facilitate the exchange of information on transnational crimes and assist in investigating them and tracking down their perpetrators. The National Center for Computer and Network Emergency Preparedness within the agency shall be the designated technical point of contact in this regard.

Article 234 Penal Code 

Whoever intentionally kills another person without premeditation or provocation shall be punished by life imprisonment or aggravated imprisonment. 

However, the perpetrator of this crime shall be sentenced to death if it is preceded, accompanied, or followed by another crime. If the intent was to prepare for, facilitate, or commit a misdemeanor, or to assist the perpetrators or their accomplices in escaping or evading punishment, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

Article 290 

Anyone who kidnaps a person by deception or coercion shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years. 

If the kidnapping is accompanied by a ransom demand, the punishment shall be imprisonment for a term of not less than fifteen years and not more than twenty years. If the kidnapped person is a child or a female, the punishment shall be life imprisonment. 

The perpetrator of the crime of kidnapping shall be sentenced to death if the crime is accompanied by sexual intercourse with the kidnapped person or indecent assault.

Application 

Premeditation and intent: These two characteristics are expressed in the aforementioned Penal Code No. 234, and their elements are present in this crime, as the first defendant, the student, incited the second defendant through Dark Web, and the murder was carefully planned in terms of renting the apartment where the crime would take place, as well as the tools of the crime and… equipment to prepare to broadcast the crime for via Dark Web, how to lure the child, and how to dismember his body. All the evidence between them was found through the browser they used to communicate. 

Conclusion

Crimes committed through the dark web have become a major threat to society and are limitless, as location is no longer a factor. The mastermind behind the crime lived in Kuwait, and what is even more striking is that he was just a teenager. However, after investigations revealed that he used the dark web to watch violent movies and videos and enjoyed them. and wanted to try it out in real life.The court sentenced the second defendant, who was an adult, to death and sentenced the first defendant, who was a minor, to 15 years’ imprisonment.

7.Findings 

1 .Although laws have been enacted to combat dark web crimes, these laws must be continuously developed in Egypt and globally. 

2 .Those responsible for enforcing these laws must be trained in the mechanisms and techniques of the dark web. 

3.Countries should exchange experiences and establish more conventions. 4.Supporting universities and institutions working in the field of cybersecurity 5. Restricting Kids and teenagers from accessing the dark web through constitutional law for example something similar to Australia banning the usage of mobile phones for minors

8. Conclusion 

The research addresses the dangers of crimes committed through the dark web, which pose a security threat to the state, its leader, its people, and public order, by highlighting two well-known cases, one American and the other Egyptian, explaining the history of the dark web, its emergence, and how it became a safe haven for anyone who wanted to commit a crime. under different identities and use digital currencies for fraud, money laundering, and heinous crimes resulting from teenagers’ ability to access and browse such sites.

Reference(S):

1 Dennis, M. A. (2025, December 31). Cybercrime | Definition, Statistics, & Examples. Britannica. Retrieved January 20, 2026, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/cybercrime

2 Cybercrime – prosecution guidance. (2018, May 1). The Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved January 20, 2026, from https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/cybercrime-prosecution-guidance

3 Cybercrime – prosecution guidance.” The Crown Prosecution Service, 1 May 2018, https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/cybercrime-prosecution-guidance. Accessed 20 January 2026. 

4 Shulman, Dylan. “Computer security | Definition & Facts.” Britannica, 2 January 2026, https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-security. Accessed 20 January 2026. 

5 The Information Revolution and Its Implications for Criminal Law, Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 1994 

6 The Origins and History of the Dark Web. (2024, February 8). IdentityIQ. Retrieved January 21, 2026, from https://www.identityiq.com/articles/the-origins-and-history-of-the-dark-web 

7 Volle, A. (2026, January 2). Anonymous | Definition, History, Purpose, Mask, & Facts. Britannica. Retrieved January 21, 2026, from 

8 UN Cybercrime Convention – Full Text. (n.d.). Unodc. Retrieved January 21, 2026, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/cybercrime/convention/text/convention-full-text.html 

9 Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. (2025, January 22). BBC. Retrieved January 21, 2026, from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o 

10 21 U.S. Code § 841 – Prohibited acts A | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Law.Cornell.Edu. Retrieved January 22, 2026, from 

11 21 U.S. Code § 848 – Continuing criminal enterprise | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Law.Cornell.Edu. Retrieved January 22, 2026, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/848 

12 18 U.S. Code § 1956 – Laundering of monetary instruments | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Law.Cornell.Edu. Retrieved January 22, 2026, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1956 

13Law No. 175 of 2018 on Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes, Egypt, WIPO Lex”