Police in New South Wales, Australia have arrested a 24-year-old University of Sydney student while receiving a package containing banned drugs.
He had allegedly ordered the items from the dark web, and the Newtown Local Area Command possibly received a tip and subsequently apprehended him in the process while the package was being delivered to the student.
Police accused the student of having ordered the drugs with the motivation to sell them to other students.
The arrest was made at his University of Sydney residence in Camperdown.
Dark Web is an Easier Way to Buy Banned Items
The growth of the dark web, and the ease with which one can access the different sites within it by using the Tor anonymity browser, is encouraging many people to engage in activities that were previously very difficult to accomplish.
The ordering of drugs, for example, is one such activity.
Earlier, buyers had to find drug dealers in dark alleys behind shady clubs and other such spots, risking the possibility of getting caught by law enforcement or facing other dangers.
But now, all drug buyers have to do is download the Tor browser and search the sites for dealers inside the dark web to order even small quantities of drugs to be delivered at their doorstep.
But the Agencies Are Cracking Down on Dark Web Crime
The dark web is not entirely new.
It has been around for many years and though it was meant to be useful for well-intentioned people to communicate without being spied on, it has grown into a very dark place for unscrupulous people to sell drugs, guns, stolen articles, and so on.
And the simultaneous growth in popularity of digital currencies like Bitcoin ensured these criminals could not be traced through the payment route as well.
But of late, the investigative agencies have learnt their lessons in cybercrimes and have been able to successfully shut down some of the most active dark web trading platforms.
Earlier this year, two of the most popular dark web markets were seized by global law enforcement as part of a long-term multinational investigation.
Many arrests of dark web drug dealers have been made around the world, and the frequency is only increasing as evidenced by this latest arrest in the University of Sydney in Australia.
Police Not Revealing How They Caught the Student
The police department of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the state capital, has not disclosed how exactly they managed to catch this 24-year-old student exactly when he was receiving the package.
If one goes by some of the recent dark web drug busts in the U.S., the investigating teams either set up their own decoy drug shop within the dark web and once someone places an order, they tip off the agencies in the destination.
The police then keep a watch on the targeted individual and arrest them right in the middle of the act, as in this Sydney case, to ensure they have an open and shut case to obtain a conviction in a court of law.
It is possible a similar tip-off happened here as well.
Some reports indicate the agency managed to intercept a piece of mail sent by the student and based on that, they traced the package of drugs to his address.
University Cooperating with the Police
The University of Sydney has taken cognizance of the incident and is awaiting more information from the police before they take concrete action against the arrested student.
However, they are cooperating with the law enforcement personnel and providing them whatever assistance they need.
For the record, the police have disclosed that they have seized 21grams of Xanax and LSD, 15.8 grams of MDMA, 14.9 grams of Cannabis, in addition to a replica pistol, from this student's residence.
Now, they will have to prepare a formal charge sheet to arraign him before a local court.
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