Hidden treasures: Kladmen (The Dropman)
Russia has strict laws when it comes to drug possession and trafficking. Severe penalties too. So the dealer doesn’t deliver to your house, but a кладмен (kladman) hides the order, which the customer then has to find.
Searching and finding
The kladman often has to search as well. For suitable and always new places and ways to hide the goods. In such a way that they can be found by those looking, without being seen by those who don’t know.
Hiding can look like this or like this. Searching like this or like this, and like this in groups. Sometimes, what is hidden is discovered by someone who didn’t pay for it. By accident at the bus station or with a detector.
Documentary
In this mini-documentary (2018, 9 min), a disguised кладмен explains how everything works. In Russian, with English subtitles (via Settings). Directed by Влад Нечитаев ( Vlad Nechitaev).
Данный фильм не является пропагандой употребления наркотических веществ в каком-либо виде: this film is not intended to promote the use of narcotics in any way.
Film
In the five-minute film Соль. Любой ценой (Salt. At any cost), the characters are also frantically searching for the klad. Соль in this context isn’t regular or table salt, but a drug related to or the same as mephedrone. More about this substance at Vice (2020) and on Wikipedia (RU); also see Самая соль: новые виды наркотиков привлекли все группы населения (Iz.ru, 2018).
Наркотики вредят не только вам, но и вашим близким: narcotics not only harm you but also your loved ones.
ISS Art Media, 2017, 5 min.
English subtitled (via Settings).
More short films
The amateur production История кладмена (Vlagod, 2020, 5 min) is subtitled in Russian. Закладка (Simon Cope, 2019, 7 min) is in English (after login). More short films with subtitles can be found in an R1 playlist Short Russian.
Without subtitles:
- Короткометражный фильм “Закладчик” (Kek&Yoki, 2020, 5 min)
- Закладчик наркотиков короткометражный фильм (Top 5, 2020, 11 min)
- Короткометражный Фильм-Закладчик (Flørdîlíån, 2019, 9 min)
- Кладмен Короткометражный фильм (Joly Tech, 2019, 12 min)
- Короткометражный фильм “Кладмен” (Almatonsky Dawn Studio, 2019, 5 min)
- Короткометражный фильм “Закладчица” (Umberto Omerta, 2015, 12 min)
Interview
Kladmen speaking in:
- Исповедь Кладмена | Закладчик | Гидра (Теневик, 2021, 24 min)
- Кладмен интервью | закладчик | курьер кура кладмэн 18+ (Муха Восемь, 2020, 52 min)
- Исповедь кладмена. Закладчик, которого не поймали (Люди PRO, 2019, 55 min)
Report
Special report: How kladmen operate
(Moscow 24, 2020, 20 min)
Also see (after login) Cколько живут закладчики наркотиков (Типичное Запорожье, 2019, 8 min) and Закладки. По факту (iRyston TV, 2018, 12 min).
Language
A клад (klad) is a treasure, as in treasure chest and treasure hunting. A кладмен (sometimes кладмэн) or закладчик is the person who makes закладки (also the word for bookmarks). More about the word кладмен on модные-слова and Wiktionary (RU).
Legislation
See Russia’s Strict Drug Laws (NFKRZ, 2019, 11 min) and Russia: The War on Drugs (DW News, 2016, 7 min). Read:
- A Change in Russia’s Draconian Drug Laws Could Be on the Horizon (The Moscow Times, 2019)
- Putin says he’s against relaxing Russia’s drug laws (Meduza, 2019)
- Drug addiction in Russia: Draconian laws instead of help (DW, 2019)
More
See:
- Как Ловят Закладчиков | Кладмен | Гидра (Теневик, 2021, 15 min)
- How drug dealers sell drugs in Russia (Crazy Russian Sergey, 2020, 12 min)
- Доза. История кладмена (region22alt, 2020, 5 min)
- Кладмен. Сколько может заработать закладчик (Паша Хейтер, 2020, 8 min)
Read:
- Russian Drug Users Describe Life and Trends During the Pandemic (Filter, 2020)
- A New Breed of Drug Dealer Has Turned Buying Drugs into a Treasure Hunt (Vice, 2020)
last edited 28-02-2021
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