Nicholas Allitt pleads guilty to trafficking cannabis through the dark web
For months, a Geelong West businessman trafficked weed purchased on the dark web through the mail. He didn’t realise the police were laying a trap.
A Geelong West dope dealer was busted after detectives linked him to cannabis purchased on the dark web being trafficked through the post.
Nicholas Allitt, 38, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to trafficking and possessing cannabis and possessing ecstasy and ketamine.
He was convicted and placed on a 12-month community corrections order (CCO) by magistrate Gerard Bryant.
In August last year, detectives from the Geelong Divisional Response Unit identified a seller with the moniker “HighTimesAus” on dark web marketplaces Abacus and Archetyp, who was using Geelong post boxes to sell cannabis products across Australia.
On December 12, investigators placed their first order, with more following on January 7 and 28 and March 19.
The six orders ranged in value from $119.50 to $464.50, and product names included Blackberry Chem and Jelly Rancher cannabis and California Honey vapes.
On March 20, police watched Allitt post three packages - the last two police orders and a third addressed to a man in Mortdale, NSW - before arresting him moments later.
Allitt was taken back to his home in Geelong West, which was searched by detectives who discovered items including 6g of cannabis and an electric press in the living room.
In one bedroom, police found a black case containing approximately 5g of ketamine in two ziplock bags, and ziplock bag with six ecstasy tablets.
In the back shed, police 400g of cannabis, packaging supplies, measuring plungers, a cartridge filling machine and components for 93 vapes.
In an office was two cryptocurrency wallets, multiple Australia Post envelopes, 20 vape cartridges containing cannabidiol (CBD) oil, more than 150 batches of CBD oil isolate of various sizes, 23 packets of CBD gummies and hundreds more vapes and vape-related items.
Signal messages found on Allitt’s desktop computer contained pictures of dried cannabis, products listed by HighTimesAus, a “current menu” of cannabis strains and multiple PGP - “Pretty Good Privacy” - keys used to encrypt data.
Allitt gave a no comment interview, the court heard, and when asked about trafficking cannabis, he said “all I’m going to say is it’s not me”.
His lawyer told the court on Wednesday that Allitt wasn’t the operator or user behind the HighTimes handle, but “received instructions from the owner of that handle”.
Allitt’s lawyer said her client’s mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and he ran his own company selling wellness products, turning to drug trafficking “in a desperate attempt to make money”.
“He accepts it was irresponsible and is deeply ashamed,” his lawyer said.
The court heard he claimed that he was told the cannabis went to people who needed it for medical use and he “convinced (himself) it was harmless”.
Mr Bryant noted he had involved himself in a “sophisticated, commercial, criminal enterprise” and an “Aladdin’s cave of drugs” at his home.
Mr Bryant noted none of the evidence made any reference to medical cannabis, and there didn’t appear to have been any filtering or vetting of customers.
“If you are prepared to set yourself up in a business on the internet, as recklessly and amateurish as that may be... you ought expect that there be serious consequences,” Mr Bryant told Allitt, who was supported in court by his partner.
He said the offending could warrant jail, but in Allitt’s case his rehabilitation was best served through a CCO.
The court heard Allitt had diagnoses of PTSD and ADHD, and he was an active member of his community with no relevant criminal history.
“(Perhaps) it was a moment of madness on your part, brought about by desperate finances,” Mr Bryant said.
But for his guilty plea and otherwise good character, Allitt would have faced nine months jail.
Allitt also pleaded guilty to drug-driving in a separate matter, and was fined $400.
Originally published as Nicholas Allitt pleads guilty to trafficking cannabis through the dark web
