Reece Whitworth: Geelong heroin user tries to import haul from UK

A Geelong heroin user freaked out when the dark web seller he bought drugs from claimed to be an Interpol officer.

A Geelong heroin user “freaked out” when the dark web seller he bought drugs from claimed to be an Interpol officer, a court has heard.

Reece Whitworth, 34, appeared in the County Court on Friday for sentencing after pleading guilty to attempted importation of a marketable quantity of heroin and negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime among other charges.

The court heard in November last year, Whitworth started using heroin again after being clean for six years and was growing frustrated by the skyrocketing prices due to the Covid pandemic.

He organised with his dealer to buy 28g of heroin from the UK online and planned to keep 10 per cent of the product for use.

Using a dark web marketplace, he sent $3000 to a man in Brighton but the drugs never arrived.

The seller would later claim to work for Interpol and extorted a further $1000 from Whitworth to keep him off the police radar.

“Bro I‘m getting emails from someone claiming to be Interpol, but they using words like ‘that‘s cool’ it’s a Gmail email too, it’s doing my head in,” he sent to his dealer.

“We got to cooperate with them, or they will come at us, as in me.”

The court heard he had been arrested the previous year when police raided the St Alban’s property he was staying, uncovering $157,000 of illegal cigarettes.

In the carport they discovered a box trailer containing almost 200,000 cigarettes, which he told police he had been storing for an unnamed individual.

Sentencing Whitworth, Judge Claire Quin said his moral culpability for the cigarettes was “limited” because he had a limited role in the syndicate and was “motivated by money”.

“But the attempted importation is grave and serious,” she said.

Whitworth, who has served seven months on remand, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment but Judge Quin ordered he be released immediately on a recognisance release order for three years.

He was also sentenced to a three year community corrections order with 120 hours community service.

“As long as you remain drug free you have reasonable rehabilitation prospects,” Judge Quin said.