A Cardiff man who spent 13 years selling drugs on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrency has been told to hand over £10,483, a fraction of the £347,274 he was found to have benefited from his crimes.
Isaac Elliott, 37, of Trade Street in Butetown, was the subject of a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on 5 November. The court was told that, although his criminal benefit stood at £347,274, the assets he has available amount to just £10,483.
Judge Paul Hobson ordered Elliott to pay that full sum within three months. If he fails to do so, he faces a further six months in prison.
Three aliases, many marketplaces
Elliott ran accounts across several dark web marketplaces under three false names: Lysander Spooner, Urban Sherman and Lucy McGee. Through them he offered cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and amphetamine. The markets he used included Abacus, Dark Matter, ASAP, Incognito, Cybermarket and Bohemia.
Investigators found the three identities had been used to sell drugs worth £16,745 in total. Most orders were for Adderall, a type of amphetamine, but customers also bought:
- LSD
- oxycodone
- Xanax
- DMT and DMT vape pens
- cocaine
- MDMA
- ketamine
- mephedrone
Surveillance and arrest
Officers from Tarian, the regional cyber and economic crime unit for south Wales, had Elliott under observation before moving in. They watched him handling packages of drugs that were destined for onward supply and delivery.
He was arrested at Trade Street Stores in Cardiff on 27 July 2024. Officers then searched the store, premises at Cheesy Brics and a flat above. They also searched addresses linked to him at Pen yr Heol Farm in Abergavenny and Mill House Court in Cwmbran.
Items recovered across the various addresses included:
- cannabis, psilocin, amphetamine, MDMA and LSD
- drug paraphernalia
- snap bags
- electronic and storage devices
- mobile phones and iPads
- sim cards and micro SD cards
The laptop that could wipe itself
Among Elliott’s encrypted devices was a laptop running Tails, an amnesic incognito live system that would erase memory and data from the machine once it was switched off. To stop crucial evidence being lost, officers had to move the laptop without allowing it to enter lock or sleep mode.
The examination that followed was successful. It uncovered profiles that had been used to supply drugs on the dark web, along with buyers’ lists, a list of drugs for sale, and reviews.
Guilty pleas and sentence
- 5 counts of Being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs
- 1 count of Being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug
The court heard he already had four previous convictions, for cannabis production, possession of Class C drugs, drug-driving, and knowingly being concerned in the evasion of a prohibition.
He was jailed for four years at a sentencing hearing in 2024.
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