--- description: The bot, programmed to buy illegal goods online, was part of an art exhibition title: A Drug-Buying Robot Has Been Freed From Police Custody image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85b4443663a9546/6987ec2acd1bba87716f9109/robot-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Drug-Buying Robot Has Been Freed From Police Custody by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2015 4:33 PM CUT  Items purchased on the darknet by the Random Darknet Shopper Items purchased on the darknet by the Random Darknet Shopper!Mediengrupppe Bitnik by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2015 4:33 PM CUT A robot programmed to buy drugs from illegal online markets has been [freed by Swiss police](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102604472 "undefined"). The shopping bot, called the “Random Darknet Shopper,” was created last fall by a Swiss art group called !Mediengruppe Bitnik to purchase illicit goods online using a weekly allowance of $100 worth of Bitcoin. The various items the bot bought at random, including counterfeit sneakers and ecstasy, would be delivered to the art group’s gallery for an exhibition. Swiss police captured the robot back in January and confiscated its purchases. However, last week, the art group announced that the police had returned Random Darknet Shopper as well as all of the goods it bought, except for the ecstasy. A Swiss police official told CNBC that the makers of the robot wouldn’t be charged for programming the robot to buy illegal items. “This is a great day for the bot, for us and for freedom of art!” the art group wrote in a [blog post](https://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.bitnik.org/r/2015-04-15-random-darknet-shopper-free/ "undefined"). \[[_CNBC_](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102604472 "undefined")\] ### These Robots Have Their Own World Cup  Humanoid robots are seen at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters  Research associates Larry Vadakedathu and Qin He work with one of their RoboCup entries, a 5-foot-tall metal humanoid named THOR (Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot), in the adult-size league at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 7, 2014. Matt Rourke—AP  Robocup Junior teams in RoboCup Robot Soccer Championship on July 21, 2014. Lorena Travassos—Fotoarena/Corbis  Members of the Rhoban project's team check functions of a humanoid robot at the LaBRI workshop in Talence, France on July 7, 2014. Regis Devignau—Reuters  People work on the software of humanoid robots during a photo opportunity at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany on July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters  Students at the University of Pennsylvania work with one of their RoboCup entries known as Nao in Philadelphia on July 7, 2014. Matt Rourke—AP  The first day of the RoboCup Robot Soccer Championship in João Pessoa, Brazil on July 21, 2014. Lorena Travassos—Fotoarena/Corbis  A participant from the Netherlands prepares his humanoid robot for a soccer match in the international robotics competition in Tehran, Iran on April 10, 2014. Vahid Salemi—AP  Humanoid robots play during a soccer match while visitors follow the competition in the international robotics competition, RoboCup Iran Open 2014, in Tehran, Iran on April 10, 2014. Vahid Salemi—AP  Trophies won by humanoid robots at competitions are seen during a photo opportunity at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany on July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/"},"headline":"A Drug-Buying Robot Has Been Freed From Police Custody","datePublished":"2015-04-21T16:33:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:54.145Z","description":"The bot, programmed to buy illegal goods online, was part of an art exhibition","url":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/","keywords":["Tech","Bitcoin","robotics","robots","Switzerland"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85b4443663a9546/6987ec2acd1bba87716f9109/robot-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85b4443663a9546/6987ec2acd1bba87716f9109/robot-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"robot-drugs","caption":"Items purchased on the darknet by the Random Darknet Shopper","creditText":"!Mediengrupppe Bitnik","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/","name":"A Drug-Buying Robot Has Been Freed From Police Custody"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See The Unique Way Amazon Ships This Teddy Bear","description":"Go Behind the Scenes at Amazon to see how the products you buy make it to the shipping truck","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IY8KG0y3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-01T04:19:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IY8KG0y3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/","duration":"PT2M54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3829874/random-darknet-shopper-drug-buying-robot-freed/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```