A HUSBAND and wife used the dark web to supply substances labelled "THC vape juice" and "THC lollipops" in exchange for cryptocurrency, running the operation out of their house at Swansea.
Mathew Crawford oversaw the business operations, taking the orders and mixing the chemicals, while his wife, Nicole Crawford, had a more minor role, printing the shipping labels and arranging for a third syndicate member, Ethan McMaugh, to take the packages to the post office.
The details of the dark web drug operation can be revealed after both Mathew and Nicole Crawford admitted to their roles in Newcastle District Court this month, the pair pleading guilty to supplying both a large commercial quantity and a commercial quantity of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Mathew Crawford remains behind bars but prosecutors did not apply to have Nicole Crawford detained after her guilty pleas.
It is understood her lawyers, led by barrister Jacob Tate and solicitor James Janke, will submit she can be adequately punished with a non-custodial sentence or an intensive corrections order when she is dealt with alongside her husband in December.
McMaugh, who acted as a courier for the operation, express-posting packages to the Crawfords' customers on the dark web, narrowly avoided jail in June after he pleaded guilty to supplying a total of 3.3 kilograms of THC.
He was placed on a two-and-a-half year intensive corrections order after evidence of his "shame and guilt" at becoming involved in the shadowy operation that traded substances similar to synthetic cannabis for cryptocurrency.
The syndicate used the dark net marketplaces to advertise their products, which they claimed to be THC, although on some occasions the product contained neither a psychoactive substance nor a prohibited drug, according to court documents.
Between September 2021 and their arrest in April 2022 the syndicate supplied or agreed to supply 1.2kg of THC to undercover operatives.
And then when they were arrested during raids on April 12, a search of the Crawford's home uncovered 4.1kg of substances that were prohibited drugs.
Police also found heat sealed bags, labels and tracking numbers, computers with accounts in cryptocurrency, customer lists and bottles similar to those shipped to buyers.
The Crawfords had pleaded not guilty to all charges relating to the dark web drug supply operation, but with a trial date approaching next month they changed their pleas after protracted negotiations.
As part of those plea negotiations, Mathew Crawford admitted that $100,000 in cryptocurrency was the proceeds his business representing the sale of THC over the dark web, while Nicole Crawford agreed that $10,000 in cryptocurrency were her proceeds of the operation.
