An Adelaide man in South Australia has been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offenses related to activities on the dark web. The 25-year-old from the Adelaide Hills is accused of operating multiple vendor profiles on the dark web, selling various drugs. Among the drugs allegedly seized, police are particularly concerned about the synthetic opioid “nitazene,” which has a high risk of overdose.
Although the seized nitazene is yet to be tested and weighed, authorities believe that the approximately 5 kilograms found may be the largest quantity seized in Australia to date. SA Health had issued warnings about protonitazene in July after confirmed overdoses and suspected cases, including a death where the drug was suspected to have played a role.
Detective Superintendent Adam Rice stated that there is currently no information suggesting a direct link between the alleged dark web vendor and the death. An investigation was launched earlier this year to target the activities of an online dark web vendor involved in trafficking illicit drugs. This investigation led to the identification and tracing of cryptocurrency used in the illegal transactions and ultimately resulted in a search and seizure operation.
During the operation in September, police searched a residential address and two storage units in the Adelaide Hills, seizing a significant quantity of illicit drugs, cash, cryptocurrency, and electronic devices. The accused allegedly received payment in cryptocurrency, and authorities have seized about $1.5 million in cryptocurrency, along with smaller amounts in cash.
The 25-year-old man has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.
By FCCT Editorial Team
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}