Abigail Hansmeyer had waited weeks for her health insurer to approve the type of insulin that works best to control her diabetes. Finally, with her supply running low, the New Brighton woman turned to a source that many diabetics have come to depend on: the robust black market for insulin and diabetic supplies. "It is amazing how many people rely on it on a day-to-day basis," said Hansmeyer, who has type 1 diabetes and got the insulin off an internet site. "For two months I had to rely on that black market." Faced with soaring costs and insurance restrictions, Minnesota diabetics are turning to Facebook, eBay, Craigslist and other lesser-known markets where they can offer medication they no longer need and ask others for help. Reselling a prescription medication such as insulin, or even giving it away for free, is illegal under federal and state laws. Yet in certain cases, diabetics are willing to take the risk. "My moral compass takes precedence over the legality of it," said … [Read more...] about Frustrated diabetics turn to internet black market for insulin
Black market trade
Single mum, 23, arrested ‘for selling newborn baby girl on black market for £11,500’
A MUM has been detained in Russia for allegedly selling her newborn girl for £11,500 on the black market. In the third recent case of this kind, the woman is accused of handing her baby over to a totally unknown couple one week after birth. The mother, named Barnokhon Rasulzhan Kyzy, 23, then wrote out a receipt to say she had received the one million rouble payment, cops said. But she was snared by an anti-slavery group called Alternative who were working with undercover police after they spotted her advert to trade the baby. The woman had previously tried and failed to sell her older daughter when she was aged around one, also for £11,500, it is alleged. She confessed in full and has been detained for six months in custody pending a criminal investigation, according to police. The woman, a resident of oil-rich Ufa, faces up to six years in jail if convicted. We prevented the sale of a newborn girl who could fall into the hands of the criminals.Oleg Melnikov, Head of … [Read more...] about Single mum, 23, arrested ‘for selling newborn baby girl on black market for £11,500’
Inside the chilling UK black market where drug dealers sell fake xanax to kids as young as 14
BLACK market drug dealers are flogging homemade prescription pills to kids as young as 14, a bombshell new documentary has revealed. Shocking footage shows counterfeit Xanax pills being mass-produced in a dingy breeze-block lab - as a manufacturer calmly warns that tablets are often laced with deadly painkiller fentanyl. The opioid - said to be 50 times stronger than heroin - is secretly mixed into the raw Xanax powder by wholesalers in China. But dealers were filmed bragging about selling the potentially-lethal pills to kids as young as 14. One boasted to BBC journalist Livvy Haydock that her homemade Xanax pills are popular with schoolkids - and said she would only refuse to sell to kids under 10. She said: "The youngest I would say are about 14. Sometimes it is hard to judge a kids age, so it could be younger. I don't feel guilty about selling to kidsXanax dealer "I don't feel guilty about selling to kids because they're going to go with somebody else and buy. "I feel about 10 or … [Read more...] about Inside the chilling UK black market where drug dealers sell fake xanax to kids as young as 14
Mysterious ‘Murder Mountain’ run by black market cannabis farms where dozens of naive weed smokers have been kidnapped and murdered
A NEW Netflix doc explores the dark underbelly of a rural part of California dubbed "Murder Mountain" – where dozens of naïve weed smokers have vanished after finding work in the area’s cannabis farms. The show details the killing of Garret Rodriguez – who vanished in 2013 after working in the drug trade in Humboldt County in the north of the state. His family tells how Garret, from San Diego, was shot and buried before later being dug up by vigilantes desperate to solve the crime which local police appeared unable to do. Humboldt is one-third of the infamous “Emerald Triangle” – which also includes Mendocino and Trinity Counties – which is known across the weed-smoking world for its abundant cannabis cultivation. The area, which has the highest missing person’s rate per capita in California, has a dark and violent recent history. Alderpoint, in Humboldt, was dubbed “Murder Mountain” in 1982 after serial killers Michael … [Read more...] about Mysterious ‘Murder Mountain’ run by black market cannabis farms where dozens of naive weed smokers have been kidnapped and murdered
Rocketing cost of stamps sees ‘black market’ boom on Ebay as Christmas card season approaches
SHOPPERS are beating the rising cost of postage by buying re-used stamps online for as little as 16p on the likes of eBay. An investigation by The Daily Telegraph has shown that the country’s largest online marketplace advertises more than 2,100 listings for re-used first and second class stamps. The publication said that just one online seller claimed to sell 20,000 re-used stamps a month – without a problem. Another seller said that some charities are selling on their received envelopes in large numbers to help boost incomes – to “stamp collectors” – allowing used stamps to be sold on. A spokesperson for eBay told the Telegraph that the stamp listings brought to the site’s attention would be checked. The Royal Mail says that it’s a “crime to knowingly use counterfeit or re-used stamps to avoid paying Royal Mail the full amount required for the postal service received. “Anyone who does so may face criminal prosecution or … [Read more...] about Rocketing cost of stamps sees ‘black market’ boom on Ebay as Christmas card season approaches