A drug dealer who sold illegal substances on the dark web and was paid with cryptocurrency has been ordered to pay back £10,000 despite benefiting by £347,000.
Isaac Elliott used three aliases across various marketplaces on the dark web to sell cocaine, cannabis, MDMA, and amphetamine. The 37-year-old had been using various accounts on the dark web for 13 years under the pseudonyms Lysander Spooner, Urban Sherman, and Lucy McGee. An investigation into his activities led to his arrest at Trade Street Stores in Cardiff on July 27, 2024.
Investigation and Seizures
A search was conducted of the store, premises at Cheesy Brics, and a flat above. Addresses linked to the defendant in Pen yr Heol Farm, Abergavenny, and Mill House Court, Cwmbran, were also searched.
Officers from Tarian, the regional cyber and economic crime unit for south Wales, had been observing Elliott prior to his arrest and saw him moving packages containing drugs for onward supply and delivery. Among the items seized from the various addresses were cannabis, psilocin, amphetamine, MDMA, LSD, drug paraphernalia, electronic and storage devices, snap bags, mobile phones, iPads, sim cards, and micro SD cards.
Encrypted Devices and Dark Web Sales
Elliott was using encrypted devices including a laptop using a system called Tails, an amnesic incognito live system that would wipe memory and data from the device if switched off. Officers had to transport the laptop without letting it go into lock or sleep mode otherwise vital evidence would have been lost.
An examination of the laptop was successful and various profiles were discovered which had been involved in the supply of drugs on the dark web. Also discovered were buyers' lists, a list of drugs for sale, and reviews.
Using a number of dark web marketplaces including Abacus, Dark Matter, ASAP, Incognito, Cybermarket, and Bohemia, the defendant used his three aliases to sell a total of £16,745 worth of drugs. The vast majority of the sales was for Adderall, a form of amphetamine, but other drugs purchased included LSD, oxycodone, Xanax, DMT, DMT vape pens, cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, and mephedrone.
Sentencing and Confiscation Order
Elliott, of Trade Street, Butetown, later pleaded guilty to five counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and one count of being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug. The court heard he has four previous convictions for offences of cannabis production, possession of Class C drugs, drug-driving, and knowingly being concerned in the evasion of a prohibition.
He was sentenced to four years imprisonment at a sentencing hearing in 2024. A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on November 5 heard Elliott benefited to the tune of £347,274, but only has available assets worth £10,483.
Judge Paul Hobson ordered the defendant to pay £10,483 within three months or serve an additional six months imprisonment.
