Mimi and Southsada Sananikone sentenced for roles in dark web drug trafficking scheme

A drug mastermind who used her elderly mother as a courier in her sophisticated dark web trafficking empire has been sentenced to at least a decade behind bars.

Mimi Sananikone, 42, allegedly ran a darknet drug trafficking operation with her 78-year-old mum Southsada Sananikone.

A glamorous drug mastermind who used her elderly mother as a courier in her sophisticated dark web trafficking empire claimed the job was a “dream come true”.

Mimi Souphalak Sananikone, 45, flew under the radar, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, as she packaged and delivered drugs from the tiny, unassuming Hughesdale home she shared with her 79-year-old mother, Southsada.

The Laos-born IT expert, who had no criminal record and was described by a judge as “an intelligent and capable individual”, will now spend at least a decade behind bars for profiting off the misery of drug addicts in a 12-month operation.

Southsada Sananikone, 79, leaves the County Court in Melbourne after being charged with drug offences. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

But her mother, who claims she was “wilfully blind” as to what was inside 255 packages she delivered to Australia Post on seven occasions over five weeks, walked free.

Mimi’s web of lies unravelled when she was arrested alongside her mother in February 2022, initially telling detectives she was running a legitimate business called Provenance, selling seaweed and tea from Laos.

The company’s website was not functioning at the time, she said, and she had mostly sold the items to friends and family for cash.

But a search of her home would prove otherwise, with prosecutor Tom Danos saying it was “replete with drugs”.

The Hughesdale home of Mimi and Southsada Sananikone that was raided by drug squad detectives.

A whopping $473,300.65 cash was found at the home and in Mimi’s A35 Mercedes.

Police also seized 101 bank cards in the names of other persons, which she used for proof of identity to receive the delivery of drugs.

Other “trappings of wealth” included $287,000 worth of bitcoin, more than $230,000 in bank accounts, $4000 in United States currency, 14 designer handbags, a Rolex watch and two Georg Jensen rings.

Mimi later folded in her police interview, saying she met the drug supplier, AusPride, on the darkweb, which she accessed “out of curiosity” after losing her IT helpdesk job for refusing to get the Covid vaccinations.

AusPride would source the drugs and deliver them to her using Australia Post Parcel Lockers, or “dead drops” at vacant houses she found on real estate websites.

Mimi would then sort and package the drugs to be sent by post to customers.

Mimi Sananikone told police in her interview, that she met the drug supplier, AusPride, on the darkweb.

She was packaging heroin, MDMA, methylamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, testosterone, LSD and steroids, nandrolone and trenbolone — and being rewarded with Bitcoin.

Messages between her and AusPride were filled with friendly banter containing emojis of faces depicting dollar signs for eyes and a poked-out tongue with a dollar sign on it.

In jailing Mimi for 18 years and 2 months, with a non-parole period of 10 years and 8 months, County Court judge Frances Hogan said the trafficking was for financial gain.

“You used your education, experience and intelligence to seize an opportunity of making very large amounts of money at the expense of causing harm to others,” Judge Hogan said.

“You were no mere conduit. Without you, orders would not have been filled and the profit motive of the business would not have been realised.”

The court heard Mimi told a counsellor following her arrest the job was a “dream come true” and that it never crossed her mind she was engaging in “highly risky behaviour”.

She pleaded guilty to four rolled up charges: trafficking in a drug of dependence in a large commercial quantity, trafficking simpliciter in a drug of dependence, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing identification information of others with intention to commit an indictable offence.

Mimi Sananikone was sentenced to 18 years and 2 months, with a non-parole period of 10 years and 8 months.

Southsada Sananikone was placed on a community correction order with 50 hours of unpaid community work.

Her sentencing in September can only be reported now after a suppression order was lifted following her mother’s trial earlier this year where she was found guilty of drug trafficking.

Southsada faced the County Court on Wednesday where she was placed on a 12-month community correction order with 50 hours of unpaid community work, combined with the 90 days she already spent in custody when arrested.

Her lawyer Karen Argiropoulos SC said her client felt “sadness, anger and regret for her daughter’s actions that have led to her being in this situation”.

“The only reason Southsada is before the court is because of her daughter’s activities,” Ms Argiropoulos said.

The pensioner, who now lives in Prahran with her son, apologised for her involvement.