Specialization in criminal activities generally refers to offenders that repeat the same or similar offenses over time. While some research has found support for offender specialization, most empirical studies suggest that most offenders engage in various forms of offenses during their criminal trajectory and fail to specialize in a specific offense. The aim of this paper is to build on past research to understand the specialization of offenders involved in the online illicit trade of tobacco. To do so, we characterize the offenders involved in the online illicit trade of tobacco, the products (other than tobacco) that these vendors traffic as well as the differences between the offenders involved in the online illicit trade of tobacco and those involved only in other types of illicit trades. We find that a small share of vendors on cryptomarkets are involved in the illicit trade of tobacco. These vendors trade cigarettes, cigars and rolling tobacco generating monthly revenues of $8952 from the sales of these items. These revenues pale in comparison to these vendors’ revenues from non-tobacco product listings ($22,177) and the monthly revenues generated by other cryptomarkets vendors (over $37 million US dollars). This paper confirms the diversification of offenders involved in online illicit markets and extends past research by quantifying the degree to which these offenders are diversified.

专门从事犯罪活动通常是指犯罪者随着时间的推移重复相同或相似的犯罪行为。虽然一些研究发现了对罪犯专业化的支持，但大多数实证研究表明，大多数罪犯在其犯罪轨迹中从事各种形式的犯罪​​，并且未能专门从事特定犯罪。本文的目的是在过去研究的基础上了解参与在线烟草非法贸易的犯罪者的专业化。为此，我们描述了参与在线烟草非法贸易的犯罪者、这些供应商运输的产品（烟草除外）以及参与在线烟草非法贸易的犯罪者与仅参与其他犯罪者之间的差异非法交易的类型。我们发现，加密市场上的一小部分供应商参与了烟草的非法贸易。这些供应商交易香烟、雪茄和卷烟，这些商品的销售月收入为 8952 美元。与这些供应商的非烟草产品列表收入（22,177 美元）和其他加密市场供应商的月收入（超过 3700 万美元）相比，这些收入相形见绌。本文证实了参与在线非法市场的犯罪者的多元化，并通过量化这些犯罪者的多元化程度来扩展过去的研究。与这些供应商的非烟草产品列表收入（22,177 美元）和其他加密市场供应商的月收入（超过 3700 万美元）相比，这些收入相形见绌。本文证实了参与在线非法市场的犯罪者的多元化，并通过量化这些犯罪者的多元化程度来扩展过去的研究。与这些供应商的非烟草产品列表收入（22,177 美元）和其他加密市场供应商的月收入（超过 3700 万美元）相比，这些收入相形见绌。本文证实了参与在线非法市场的犯罪者的多元化，并通过量化这些犯罪者的多元化程度来扩展过去的研究。