Throughout history soldiers have used drugs, sometimes to fight better or to stay alert, or perhaps to help cope with the extreme psychological situation and trauma they are faced with. The current conflict in Ukraine is no different. Concerns around this led to the Ukrainian parliament passing a new law that authorizes random drug and alcohol tests on soldiers. Organized crime is nothing if not adaptable, even in this most extreme environment. The soldiers fighting to protect their homeland represent a new and relatively wealthy market, ripe for criminal networks to exploit. And they are doing just that. So who is behind this market? This is a story about war, drugs, the darknet and corruption. Speaker(s): Ted Sasha Additional Reading: (GI Paper) New front lines: Organized criminal economies in Ukraine in 2022 Business Insider - Russian lawmakers baselessly claim their army is up against biologically modified Ukrainian super soldiers LiveScience - Nazis Dosed Soldiers with Performance-Boosting 'Superdrug' History - G.I.s’ Drug Use in Vietnam Soared—With Their Commanders’ Help The Atlantic - The Drugs That Built a Super Soldier Journeyman Pictures - Sierra Leone's Cocaine-Drugged Child Soldiers Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - Lebanon’s role in Syria’s Captagon trade Washington Post - Zelensky takes on Ukraine’s top internal enemy Legatum Institute - Looting Ukraine: The East, the West and the Corruption of a Country (Full Version) Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index US DoJ Press release - Justice Department Investigation Leads to Shutdown of Largest Online Darknet Marketplace Chainalysis - OFAC Sanctions Hydra Following Law Enforcement Shutdown of the Darknet Market, As Well As Russian Exchange Garantex National Institute on Drug Abuse - Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts") DrugFacts UNIAN.info - SBU busts major drug lab in Kyiv region in raid...