Europol takes up the fight against drugs crime on the Internet

Early warning system on sites of 'criminal networks and suspect Internet providers'

The cross-frontier nature of the Internet makes it necessary to harmonise legislation and strengthen international co-operation to combat illicit content and practices effectively, according to the member states of the European Union. The Union has found a new target: drug-related offences committed via the Internet. The EU wants Europol to implement an action programme.

In the beginning of 1998, the German Presidency of the Schengengroup sounded the alarm bell. A lot of information on drugs can be found on the Internet, said the German Presidency in a report to the working group on narcotics of the Schengen states . According to the German report cybercops found on the Internet scientific information on the use of drugs, places where you can buy drugs and information on how to make your own drugs. The Germans gave the example of two books Alexander Shulgin published on the Internet (PIHKAL - Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved, and TIKHAL - Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved).

The cybercops further discovered companies who used the Internet to advertise on chemical products, laboratory equipment and scientific literature. According to the German report, drugs investigations in Germany showed that drugs criminals used email to do their business.

The EU member states were asked to fill in a questionnaire on drug related crime on the Internet. According to the explanatory note , the member states were afraid that drugs didn't get enough attention during discussions on high-tech criminality. 'Europol didn't get any information on drugs related crime in the context of their report on high-tech crime,' the note says. 'During the first expert meeting of Europol on high tech crime, drugs related crime was only mentioned in a side line.'

Last month, the results of the questionnaire were circulated amongst the EU member states. There are many legislative shortcomings in all countries, notes the report. A lot of countries had not drafted any particular legislation enabling them to intervene to establish offences related to the Internet. Internet providers would operate without a specific legal framework. Most legislation on telecommunication is understood not to apply to the Internet. According to the summary of the answers to the questionnaire, co-operation between police forces and Internet providers exists, but only on an informal base.

The police forces are also not yet equipped for the fight against cybercrime, the report says. Most member states have not prepared specific legislation on the use of undercover techniques, although the use of such techniques is 'not prohibited'. Only a few countries have departments specialising in the detection of various aspects of Internet crime.

The experience of the EU member states with drugsrelated crime on the Internet is a bit confusing. The report says on the one hand the Internet is mainly used as a means of communication and to exchange information on the production and sale of narcotic substances. But on the other hand, the report states that practically no country has yet recorded any cases in which drugs traffickers communicate via the Internet. The report says further that all but two countries have already had to face offenders using encryption software.

The French Presidency now recommends that Europol implements an action programme. The action programme consists of the drawing up of a list of contact points specifying for each country the competent departments that maintain links with Internet providers. Further, an early warning system has to be established at Europol, enabling operational information to be gathered and circulated concerning new modus operandi and sites of criminal networks. Europol also has to publish an information bulletin regularly covering various trends in legislation, cases pending, and a list of 'suspect Internet providers'. Analytical working files are to be opened on drugsrelated Internet crime. Europol also has to train officers in conducting investigations in electronic environments, in order to minimise the disappearance of evidence and to ensure that evidence is admissible in court.

The French presidency finally recommends the establishment of specific legal frameworks in the European Union to organise effectively the fight against drugs crime linked to the Internet, greater simplification and effectiveness of judicial, police and customs co-operation procedures between the member states and bringing together experts from the member states, in order to 'iron out any legal or technical problems associated with defining effective strategies for joint action.'