underground trade
Illicit commercial exchange
Underground trade is commerce conducted secretly to evade laws, taxes, or regulations.
It encompasses black markets, smuggling operations, and off-the-books transactions: The underground trade in stolen antiquities funds organized crime.
The term implies systematic illegal exchange rather than isolated transactions—networks that operate beneath legitimate economic activity.
- black marketIllicit trading system
- smugglingIllegal covert transport
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
- illicitProhibited by law
- back alleyPassage behind buildings
bootleg · trafficking · hot goods · shadowy · hushed · behind closed doors · backroom · clandestine · cartel · fence · dealer · no questions asked · exchange · goods · cash only · cash · off the books · tunnel
- smugglingcontraband, smugglers, human smuggling, smuggling rings, people smuggling