Postal Delivery of Illegal Consignments into Scotland: Dataset Description

Matthews, Ben; McVie, Susan; Dibben, Chris; Collier, Ben

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3611823

Cited by 3 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…This may also be a function of the demographic profile of those who purchase drugs online. Matthews et al (2020) suggest that most of the parcels in this dataset contained small amounts of drugs that were most likely for personal use or non-commercially-motivated supply. The fact that we found no relationship between areas with drugs related hospitalizations (an indicator of serious drug use) and intercepted drug packages in our final the model suggests that postal delivery is mainly used by personal users or those who supply others to a very small degree.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…This assumption is in line with the explanation given by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and Europol (2019), who link the rise in postal delivery of drugs to the ability to purchase drugs online. In addition, detailed examination of the NCA dataset does indicate that the profile of consignments was similar to that of major cryptomarkets known to be operating during the same period (Matthews et al, 2020), andvan Slobb (2016:78) suggests that cryptomarkets are the primary driver of an increase in drugs packages identified in the post. Whilst some of the packages in the NCA dataset may have originated offline, we contend that this is unlikely to be common and that most of the packages in the NCA dataset were online purchases.…”

Section: Methods For Researching Digital Drugs Marketsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

Matthews¹,

Collier²,

McVie³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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An increase in the use of postal services to deliver drugs purchased online raises concerns about widening access to drugs markets, especially in remote and rural areas that were previously protected by geographical boundaries. Yet, little is known about the geographical patterning of drugs delivered through the post. Using a novel law enforcement dataset containing details of illegal drug packages intercepted by UK Border Force en-route to Scotland, we examine the geographical destination of drugs purchased online and explore the area-based characteristics associated with higher rates of delivery. This paper provides previously unavailable insights into the spatial patterning of digital drugs markets at sub-national level.We use descriptive statistics, Bayesian hierarchical regression models, and spatial autocorrelation to describe the relationship between area-based characteristics and expected rate of illegal drug consignments identified across Scotland.The majority of intercepted drug packages were destined for urban centres, but there was a higher than expected delivery rate to some of Scotland's remote and rural locations. Increased rates of drug delivery within Scottish neighbourhoods was associated with higher levels of crime and deprivation, internet connectivity and with access to services, but not with higher rates of drug-related hospitalisation. Analysis of spatial clustering showed that drug delivery to the most remote and rural locations was still associated with good access to services because the packages were typically delivered to addresses in larger settlements within remote locations.Overall postal drugs delivery reflects both relatively high use in more urban, more deprived areas but also seems to open up more remote regions to drug markets, albeit with usage concentrated in larger settlements within otherwise remote areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Methods For Researching Digital Drugs Marketsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

Matthews¹,

Collier²,

McVie³

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, the data on controlled deliveries were collected during a period of considerable turmoil and restructuring in policing terms. Nevertheless, the majority of the parcels were seized in the period following police reform (Matthews et al, 2020), so less variation across the country may have been expected. It is also important to acknowledge that analysis at LAA level may not pick up important distinctions in local policing practice, which is a limitation of our work that is discussed later.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Any illegal drugs are ultimately destroyed; however, seized parcels can provide valuable information about drug producers, distributors and consumers, including the origin of consignments, concealment methods, and even components linked to specific manufacturers, batches, or retailers (Martin, 2014). In some cases, therefore, a decision is taken to undertake a ‘controlled delivery’ (Matthews et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controlled Delivery of Illegal Drug Parcels in Scotland: Does Policing Practice Align With a Public Health Approach Focused on Drug-Related Harm?

Morales

McVie

Pantoja

2022

Journal of Drug Issues

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An increase in the flow of drugs into the UK via international postal systems poses challenges for law enforcement. ‘Controlled delivery’ can be used to disrupt supply networks and secure intelligence for prosecution; however, critics argue that law enforcement should instead focus on reducing drug-related harm. In Scotland, national drugs strategy adopts a public health approach but it is unclear whether this extends to policing practice. Therefore, this paper examines whether controlled delivery of drug parcels aligns with a public health policing approach. We find evidence of alignment in terms of potential harm to individual users, particularly in relation to legal highs, but not in terms of drug-related harms within the communities to which parcels were destined. We argue that further investigation is required in order to assess the extent to which political intent and policing practice in Scotland align around the principles of harm reduction and public health.

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Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

Matthews

Collier

McVie

et al. 2021

European Journal of Criminology

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An increase in the use of postal services to deliver drugs purchased online raises concerns about widening access to drugs markets, especially in remote and rural areas that were previously protected by geographical boundaries. Yet little is known about the geographical patterning of drugs delivered through the post. Using a novel law enforcement dataset containing details of illegal drug packages intercepted by UK Border Force en route to Scotland, we examine the geographical destination of drugs purchased online and explore the area-based characteristics associated with higher rates of delivery. This article provides previously unavailable insights into the spatial patterning of digital drugs markets at sub-national level. We use descriptive statistics, Bayesian hierarchical regression models, and spatial autocorrelation to describe the relationship between area-based characteristics and expected rate of illegal drug consignments identified across Scotland. The majority of intercepted drug packages were destined for urban centres, but there was a higher than expected delivery rate to some of Scotland’s remote and rural locations. Increased rates of drug delivery within Scottish neighbourhoods was independently associated with higher levels of crime and deprivation, with Internet connectivity and with access to services, but not with higher rates of drug-related hospitalization. Analysis of spatial clustering showed that drug delivery to the most remote and rural locations was still associated with good access to services because the packages were typically delivered to addresses in larger settlements within remote locations. Overall, postal drugs delivery reflects both relatively high use in more urban, more deprived areas but also seems to open up more remote regions to drug markets, albeit with usage concentrated in larger settlements within otherwise remote areas.

show abstract

Postal Delivery of Illegal Consignments into Scotland: Dataset Description

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

Controlled Delivery of Illegal Drug Parcels in Scotland: Does Policing Practice Align With a Public Health Approach Focused on Drug-Related Harm?

Understanding digital drug markets through the geography of postal drug deliveries in Scotland

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