Postal delivery of illegal consignments into Scotland: Dataset description

Abstract

This report describes a novel dataset of illegal consignments from overseas identified in postal processing centres between April 2011 and January 2016 and intended for delivery to Scotland. The data were provided to researchers at the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research by the National Crime Agency. This dataset provides valuable information on drugs entering Scotland via international postal services, a popular delivery method for drugs purchased in online cryptomarkets.

The report provides an overview of how the dataset was constructed, its contents, and the technical and governance arrangements involved in accessing this dataset. It also provides descriptive statistics for the variables included in the dataset, comparing this data source with other data on patterns of cryptomarket usage and focusing particularly on the type, size and distribution of different commodities. From this comparison we conclude that the Illegal Consignment dataset has similar characteristics to other datasets on cryptomarket use over the same time span.