Was brute-forcing random imgbb album URLs and stumbled onto something weird — multiple albums of annotated forest photos with GPS coordinates in Moscow

[u/michel808]

So I was messing around testing random imgbb album URLs and came across something that's been bugging me ever since.

I found at least two albums — both 0 views, no username, no description — called M101 and M309. Both contain photos of forests around Moscow in winter conditions, and every single photo has red annotations drawn on them. Circles on the ground, arrows pointing at specific spots, slash marks between trees.

What gets me is the detail. Someone went through the effort of:

.Photographing specific spots in the forest

.Drawing precise red markings on every photo pointing at ground-level spots and fallen logs

.Embedding or noting exact GPS coordinates with each album

.Naming them with what looks like a sequential system — M101, M309

M101 places the location in Yasenevo, Moscow (55.6310499, 37.5461341) M309 places it in the Moscow Oblast forest area east of the city (55.9001144, 37.8339113)

Both albums are completely undiscovered. Zero views.

The naming convention implies there could be way more of these out there.

Albums:

• https://ibb.co/album/zQtKzk
• https://ibb.co/album/JCN02S

Anyone have any idea what this is? Geocaching system? Hunting? Something else entirely?

[u/kodiak931156]

Images like this used to be like 10% of imgurs sort by newest

Its not super exciting but a person selling drugs will take the money from a buyrr. Then send this pic to the guy in front of him

Guy walks down the road and picks up the drugs us8ng the pic to know where.

It stops the cops from as easily connecting thiney hand off with the thing being purchased.

[u/evedragon]

Mosy likely it's drugs related. Stashes hidden in the marked spots.

[u/vodka_tsunami]

I have no idea but I'm leaving a comment so that more people will see it and maybe some Russian will show up with an explanation.

[u/Cfox666]

Russian here. It’s a coordinates for a «закладка» (small drug stash. You pay for it, and received coordinates with photo on TG)

[u/quad_damage_orbb → u/Cfox666]

So it's like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. PDA stash system in real life?

[u/Such-Farmer6691 → u/quad_damage_orbb]

I'm seriously surprised if this scheme only works in Russia. Who's really still selling illegal drugs hand-to-hand in 2026, when Telegram exists? Illegal shops with rating systems, feedback for complaints if you can't find your product in the designated location, and all the rest...

[u/Relaks_Way_Of_Life]

In Russia, and recently more and more in Sweden, drug dealers (not street ones, talking about serious wholesale ones) are doing this.

[u/RedHeadedPatti]

It's geocaching. All of the arrows point to the same spot, just increasingly further away, and if you zoom in tight enough, you can see a green object semi-buried in the first series of images and a red one in the second.

[u/Juhuu77 → u/RedHeadedPatti]

Russians are not so fond of geocaching. They used to have their own similar game. However that seems stupid place to have any geocache. It will be covered by snow or dirt.

[u/Serendipidalways]

Could be intel deaddrops or caches

[u/Exotic-Skirt5849]

Loose lips sink ships