A Cranbourne trafficker caught dealing drugs on the dark web in an undercover sting has been jailed.
Lucas Raymond Bingham, 43, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to commercial trafficking of LSD, trafficking cannabis products as well as possessing magic mushrooms, diazepam and ketamine.
Using the anonymous name ‘Utopia’, the self-employed tattoo artist advertised to sell LSD tabs and cannabis derivatives on a darknet marketplace Abacus Market.
According to prosecutors, Utopia had made 1186 drug sales on Abacus totalling $163,198 between 2021-’23.
Transactions were paid in cryptocurrency, parcels labelled with false seller details and encrypted apps such as WIKR, Threema and Telegram used to avoid detection.
Utopia was believed to be actively selling on 25 further darknet marketplaces.
As part of his enterprise, Bingham mailed parcels into post boxes across the region including Cranbourne North, Berwick, Dandenong South, Carrum Downs and Frankston, to buyers across Australia.
Police intercepted 362 ‘Utopia’ parcels between November 2022-September 2023, seizing about 2.34 kilograms of cannabis, 552 THC infused cookies and 1870 LSD tabs.
In their covert sting in 2023, police made 10 purchases of LSD and cannabis products using $2616 of Bitcoin from Utopia on the Abacus site.
In a raid of Bingham’s home in October 2023, police seized a package from New York, USA containing 3000 LSD tabs hidden in two comic books.
Also seized were bags of cannabis totalling 436 grams, more than 6500 LSD tabs, 302 THC cookies, 84 packets of THC gummies, 40 grams of butane honey oil as well as magic mushrooms, ketamine and diazepam.
Police also found $12,500 cash, three phones and a Isuzu ute, double-edged dagger and two shotgun shells.
In sentencing on 19 March, judge Justin Lewis said Bingham argued he’d set up the enterprise to fund his drug habit, after his tattoo business collapsed during Covid.
But the sophisticated online operation was “much more than that”, the judge noted.
Bingham had good rehabilitation prospects and limited criminal priors, Judge Lewis said.
He was jailed for four years and 10 months, with a non-parole period of at least two years, 10 months.
