Dark Web Dealer Allegedly Donates Drug Profits to Charity

Although the dark web is most famously known for selling drugs, weapons and stolen data, there are a few characters who have taken profits from their underground business and funneled them into charities. Most recently, a dealer specialising in psychedelics has allegedly donated some of his earnings to Doctors Without Borders.

TripWithScience, who, according to the dark web search engine Grams sells liquid psilocybin on a number of different marketplaces, recently took to Reddit to announce a donation.

"A couple of weeks ago I made a donation to Doctors Without Borders, which has always been a charity that's been near and dear to my heart. So the attacks on their compound in Afghanistan yesterday were especially saddening," TripWithScience wrote.

A Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed in Afghanistan by US forces late last week.

This isn't the first time TripWithScience has allegedly donated dark web cash to charity either. Earlier this year, the dealer sent funds to the See Change Foundation, which, amongst other things, works on educational development in Nepal.

"Like last time, the reason I'm now being public about this donation is because I want the world to know that even though we're a community of drug dealers and users, we aren't hurting anyone by confining our (non-violent, victimless) criminal activities online," the dealer wrote a few days ago, referring to the recent Doctors Without Borders donation.

Intentional or not, other users are apparently seeing TripWithScience in a great light because of these actions.

"Dude the world needs more drug dealers like you," one Reddit user wrote.

More users jumped onto the thread not to talk about TalkWithScience's donations, but the high quality of the dealer's product.

"Thanks for what you do and thank you for providing my (and many others) introduction to psychedelics. I'm a happier person as a result and knowing that your product was so well reputed was a big reason I finally felt ready to take the plunge," one apparent customer wrote.

Other dark web denizens have made charitable donations in the past. Dread Pirate Roberts 2 (DPR2), the owner of the second Silk Road marketplace, set up a fund to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. DPR2 then matched the donations generated by the community.

Despite these examples, some people remain sceptical about whether this will catch on. "Considering your the only person doing this I think it says that drug dealers would rather spend everything on themselves," another Reddit user wrote.