The unravelling of an alleged Sydney dark web syndicate

4 hours ago 2

When Ricky Cao and Henry Do jumped into Cao’s unassuming Japanese runabout on a steamy January day, they had no idea they were being followed through Sydney’s suburban sprawl.

The pair, aged 25 and 22, had come to the attention of NSW Police’s elite Cybercrime Squad, who had reason to suspect the men were running a complex dark net drug operation.

Two men were arrested following a months-long investigation.

The duo, plus at least two unknown people, had allegedly sold quantities of cocaine, heroin, ketamine and methylamphetamine to eager buyers across the country.

Court documents do not identify the pair’s alleged co-conspirators, who went by the monikers of SnowQueen and EliteSupplies as they communicated online.

Beginning in January, detectives launched a five-month operation that began when police allegedly became aware of the purchase of 3.5 grams of ice for $630 worth of cryptocurrency on the 20th of that month.

The following day, surveillance officers followed the duo from the Belmore home Cao shared with his girlfriend and her parents to a post office in Lakemba, where they allegedly witnessed Do remove a black and white bag from the car before Cao took it inside. It was later seized by investigators.

Cocaine was seized from one of the homes, police allege.

Investigators allege it was the first of several occasions that Do used the postal system to send drugs sold on the dark net that were later seized and tested by police.

The operation, in which police allege Cao was pulling the strings, came to a screeching halt in May when the men were picked up by detectives.

Cao was charged with 98 offences relating to the alleged supply of prohibited drugs, while Do was charged with 20 offences relating to the supply of prohibited drugs.

Both remain before the courts, with Cao in custody. Do was freed to home detention last month after his grandmother put up an eye-watering $500,000 surety on her home.

Cybercrime’s acting superintendent Detective Jason Smith said surveillance revealed that on some days more than 30 transactions were made from Cao’s bedroom at the home of his girlfriend’s parents.

“We found a whole range of drugs, almost four kilos of drugs including some pretty nasty ones. It was a real smorgasbord of drugs, it’s something we’ve really got to pursue and take action because they are drugs that cause enormous harm to the community,” Smith told the Herald.

“It was a high-volume operation. We [allegedly] saw them punch out sometimes 30 to 40 packages a day.

“They’re not selling kilos at a time. We will allege it’s smaller quantities, higher volume and the profit margin is very high.”

Detectives are now working to establish where the duo were allegedly sourcing the drugs. Options range from other dark web sellers, traditional drug transactions or manufacturing drugs themselves.

Despite the significant profits proffered by the Australian market, the “very organised” duo kept a low profile, Smith said.

“They certainly weren’t living the high life.”

Do was living in a granny flat behind the Yennora home his parents and younger brother shared, and drove a Honda Accord. Outside his alleged dark net preoccupation, he was unemployed.

Court documents show that a raid on the Patrician Brothers graduate’s dwelling allegedly seized three bags containing ice, 50 grams of heroin and two envelopes. One contained ice bound for an address in Victoria, the other heroin to be mailed to Queensland.

Smith says the arrests show that contrary to the widely held belief that “the dark net is some sort of safe haven for cybercriminals”, police are actively investigating it daily.

“People think they can hide behind layers of encryption and sell illicit commodities on the internet. You’re really kidding yourself, and we’ll catch up with you at some point,” he said.

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