Drug trafficking via apps like Telegram is booming. In Zurich, it has never been easier to get hold of illegal substances than it is today.
There is hardly a city where more cocaine is used than in Zurich. Buying is easier than ever before.
Raphael Nassar is what one would call a small fish in the drug milieu. But as he drove his red Opel Astra through Zurich’s university district at the end of April 2020, he had a whole potpourri of substances in his backpack. In it were: 47 grams of cocaine, 119 grams of amphetamines, 323 ecstasy pills, 93 LSD tabs, 15 grams of ketamine, 75 grams of cannabis and half a dozen other illegal substances.
Nassar, whose name has been changed, is a university graduate and normally works as a small business owner. But on that spring evening, he was on his way to his clients as a courier for a major drug network.
They were residents of Zurich who waited at home on the sofa or at the kitchen table for the doorbell to ring. Maybe they were still holding their cell phone. Because that’s how they ordered the drugs that Nassar was bringing to their door.
But Nassar and the drugs did not arrive. The police arrested the courier on his way to his next deal. Maybe he stood out because of the way he was driving, maybe because of the backpack on the passenger seat. Maybe because there were fewer people on the streets because of the first pandemic lockdown. It is possible that the police had been on the trail of the young man for some time.
Nassar ended up in custody for two days. Police searched his room in Seefeld and confiscated more drugs, several cell phones and thousands of francs in cash. Nassar was charged. The information about him and his arrest comes from the indictment.
The clients went empty-handed that evening. But they have little to fear. The same is true for the dealers upstream of Nassar. Even if the drug courier wanted to blow the whistle on them in court today, nearly three years later, he couldn’t. Because the young man never saw them.
Customer-friendly, simple, discreet
In Zurich, drugs are increasingly being sold over the internet. This is shown by the figures of the Drug Information Center of the City of Zurich (DIZ). More and more consumers who have their substances tested in the DIZ laboratory say they bought them online. While the share was still 2% in 2014, it has risen to 16% in recent years. And the number of unreported cases is probably much higher.
The selection in the online drug market is wide – much wider than traditional street dealers. Some vendors tout lists of two dozen different banned substances.
Buying the drugs requires no advanced computer skills. A messenger service like Telegram and an app for crypto payments or an SBB ticket machine for bitcoin transfers are all that is needed. Meanwhile, some dealers even use Instagram and Tiktok to hawk their wares.
The providers present themselves as hip and trendy. With promotions and volume discounts, a customer service and FAQ pages, they vie for the favor of clientele. Consumers no longer have to walk down a dark alley to get their fix. Drugs can be discreetly delivered to your home by mail or courier.
This has consequences. It has probably never been easier to get drugs than it is today. The rush is always just a click away.
An academic becomes a drug mule
Almost three years after his arrest, Raphael Nassar stood before the Zurich District Court last week. He has a criminal record for falsifying a scholarship application a few years ago. Otherwise, the 31-year-old Swiss seems more like a financial advisor than a drug dealer.
He wears horn-rimmed glasses, a black turtleneck, has several years of professional experience in serious and lucrative jobs, and claims to now run a company with more than 20 employees. Since the day of his arrest, he has confessed.
The judge asked the question that was on everyone’s mind in the courtroom, «How do you, as an academic with highly specialized training, come to do something like this?»
Nassar answered quietly, struggling for words, apologetic. There is no real explanation, he said, but then tried to explain: In 2020, he was plagued by money worries. He said his company suffered from the coronavirus pandemic, and government support failed to materialize for a long time. For two months he could not pay the rent or his employees’ wages.
In a Zurich nightclub, he was approached by a man who identified himself as a drug courier. «If you need money, you can send me a message on Telegram,» the stranger had said to him. The next day, he said, he went into business.
Nassar then delivered a large quantity of drugs to at least 50 different individuals. Within five weeks, he earned almost 23,000 francs.
The friendly drug dealers
Nassar’s drug provider is considered one of the largest and best-known online drug dealers in Switzerland. It is a network that in 2020 was still called «vitamin pigeon.» In the meantime it has changed its name, but still works essentially the same way. In order to avoid advertising for an illegal business, we refrain from mentioning the new name here.
On the trader’s Telegram channel, every imaginable substance from amphetamine to Xanax is for sale. The only exception is heroin. One portion, called a unit, costs 100 francs. The more you buy, the cheaper the price becomes. At regular intervals, the provider entices customers with special offers. «Substanzen-Aktion» it said last week, advertising a sale. «Buy 3 units for 270 francs: get 4 units (1 free).»
It is unclear who is behind the ad. When asked, the operators of the Telegram channel reply in a remarkably friendly manner: «Good day, the pigeon thanks you very much for the request.» However, they did not want to answer the questions posed. «The pigeon does not want to provoke anyone, although it responds to a demand that has existed for thousands of years.»
Difficult investigations
Dealers are also recruited on the Telegram channel. The drug list includes large quantities, such as 50 grams of cocaine or half a kilo of marijuana, for sale. They cost thousands of francs, but should fetch many times that amount when sold to consumers.
People like Nassar are tempted by such an offer. They have much more to fear than those responsible in the background, who can hide in the anonymity of the internet.
In addition to Nassar, another courier has also been tried in Zurich, and a third case is pending, according to the Zurich-Limmat prosecutor’s office. Strikingly, after the arrests of two couriers for the «vitamin pigeon» in the summer of 2020, the Telegram channel went offline. A year later, the ad reappeared – without a courier service.
Nevertheless, it is difficult for the police to take action against the illegal supply. «Police must obtain evidence that can be used in court. This is obviously more difficult on the internet than in the case of physically established crimes,» writes the media office of the Zurich cantonal police upon request.
The public prosecutor’s office of the canton of St. Gallen, where the courier service was also active, had to suspend proceedings against the «vitamin pigeon» in the fall of 2021, wrote the NZZ am Sonntag and the Beobachter in a joint exposé. Despite «extensive investigations,» the perpetrators could not be located.
For tactical reasons, the Zurich cantonal police are not disclosing exactly how the investigators are proceeding. Just this much: The investigations are also taking place online. However, the perpetrators are often not in Switzerland, the report continues. Cross-border proceedings pose special challenges for the investigations.
There are also repeated calls for legal regulation of the platforms on which the deals are made. Telegram, meanwhile, is denying any responsibility. Upon request, the company wrote that it has been actively combating harmful content – including the sale of banned substances – since its establishment in 2013. In addition, moderators monitor the platform’s public chats and channels and accept deletion requests from users.
Anyone who sees the advertisments for illegal products on the platform may doubt that the messaging service puts a lot of effort into fighting them.
The laws of the market
Dominique Schori, head of DIZ, has been observing the drug market on Telegram and other channels for years. He warns of possible consequences of the broad online offering. «Private dealers, from experience, have one to two substances on offer. Online stores offer almost everything. That can lead users to try other substances.»
However, it is also possible the people behind the adverts are simply responding to an existing demand and offering additional substances, Schori points out. After all, «It’s a market – economic laws apply here, too.»
This is also reflected in the purity of the substances. Cocaine laced with rat poison is a myth, Schori says. «Dealers don’t primarily want to inflict harm, they want to make as much money as possible.»
According to Schori, however, the quality of substances traded online is no better or worse than from other sources. Here, too, you will find many substances that are stretched, overdosed or mislabeled. «Without having undergone drug-checking to learn about the actual composition, consumption remains a dangerous lottery.»
To be sure, most drugs tested at the DIZ are still acquired in private settings. According to Schori, however, online retail is becoming increasingly important, especially for a young and tech-savvy clientele. However, he does not believe that the ads will attract new consumers. Anyone who wanted to get drugs could have done so in the past – without a cell phone.
Repentance in court
Raphael Nassar’s career as a drug mule was short, steep and only seemingly lucrative. «All in all, this has become an expensive thing to do,» says the judge presiding over the summary judgment case against him. «It wasn’t worth it at all.»
Nasser will receive a conditional prison sentence of 24 months and a fine of 80 Swiss francs per day for 180 days for violating the Narcotics Act. He must also pay the costs of the proceedings of more than 11,000 francs. The district court thus followed the prosecution’s proposed sentence.
The well-educated drug courier shows remorse in his closing statement. «I’m sorry for what I did to my fellow citizens,» Nassar says, wiping a tear from his face.
In order to alleviate the suffering he caused, he had voluntarily donated the 23,000 Swiss francs he had earned from his illegal business, in addition to all other costs, to a center for addiction medicine.
