A DARK web drug dealer has pleaded guilty to supplying more than 5kg of a psychoactive substance in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Mathew Phillip Crawford, 47, faced Newcastle District Court via video-link from jail on Thursday afternoon when he pleaded guilty to charges of supplying a commercial quantity and a large commercial quantity of of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - a total of 5.36kg related to instances in 2021 and 2022.
One count of dealing with the proceeds of crime - $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency - will be taken into account when he is sentenced.
The Swansea man was accused of supplying products containing THC similar to synthetic cannabis on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrency.
He remains on remand and will face a sentencing hearing on December 6.
A woman charged in relation to the supply operation has not yet entered any pleas and will face Newcastle District Court next Thursday.
Ethan McMaugh, a 32-year-old man who acted as a courier in the drug ring, was sentenced in June to a two-and-a-half-year Intensive Correction Order - essentially a suspended jail term.
They were arrested in 2022 as part of Strike Force Alaine, an undercover operation established by State Crime Command Cybercrime Squad detectives to investigate the alleged supply of prohibited drugs in Lake Macquarie.
