5 minute read
Caught in the darknet
Editorial: Jesse Wray-McCann
Photography: John Pallot
DETECTIVE GOES TO THE INTERNET’S DARKEST CORNER TO CATCH A DAD-TURNED-DRUG DEALER
Tracking down a drug dealer operating in the hidden recesses of the darknet was long thought to be near impossible.
So impenetrable did criminals consider the walls of the darknet, that when Detective Senior Constable Igor Rusmir arrested a man at his suburban Melbourne home for trafficking fentanyl through the internet’s most clandestine channel, police thought the man was having a shock-induced heart attack and would need an ambulance.
For the offender, the surprise arrest at his front door only lasted a few moments.
But for Det Sen Const Rusmir and his fellow Drug Taskforce detectives, it was the culmination of an extraordinary, year-long investigation that made law enforcement agencies across the world take notice.
Det Sen Const Igor Rusmir’s determination and willingness to embrace new technology resulted in a ground-breaking investigation.
The case file first came across Det Sen Const Rusmir’s desk in July 2017, following the fentanyl overdose death of a 25-year-old Western Australia man.
Fentanyl is an incredibly powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine.
It is legally used in minute doses for medicallysupervised pain management but is increasingly being abused illegally and has caused countless overdose deaths globally.
The man’s family had discovered on his computer that he had bought the fentanyl using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin over the darknet, an area of the internet hidden beyond the reach of mainstream search engines.
The case landed with Det Sen Const Rusmir after aspects of the sale suggested the man’s darknet dealer may have been from Victoria.
It didn’t take long for the detective to realise this was a job the likes of which the Drug Taskforce had never before dealt with.
“We had to do a lot of work to educate ourselves on things like the darknet, fentanyl and cryptocurrency just to get the job off the ground,” Det Sen Const Rusmir said.
Victoria Police’s E-Crime squad was brought in to help the Drug Taskforce understand how to delve into the darknet and the use of cryptocurrency, while the Clandestine Laboratory Squad educated them on fentanyl.
The team even had the United States’ powerful Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) present to them in preparation for the case.
Despite being warned about the darknet’s formidable encryption protection and of the lack of fentanyl dealers in Victoria, Det Sen Const Rusmir was like a dog with a bone, determined to bring the dealer to justice.
The investigation began in earnest in November 2017 and Det Sen Const Rusmir identified six active fentanyl dealers in Victoria, one of which was linked to the dead Western Australia man.
Due to its toxicity and role in so many overdose deaths, fentanyl sales were being banned on various darknet marketplaces, making it even more difficult to track the suspect.
“We had to follow the target through the darknet world to other websites and forums where he could still sell fentanyl,” Det Sen Const Rusmir said.
“The E-Crime guys worked their magic on the darknet and purchased two samples of fentanyl from him.”
So lethal is the substance, that when 100 milligrams of fentanyl arrived via Australia Post, police needed the opioid antidote naloxone at the ready in case of accidental exposure.
In getting the suspect to send the sample, Det Sen Const Rusmir had forced him to surface from the darknet into the real world, allowing him to turn to the traditional tricks of the drug investigation trade.
After finally tracking him down, Det Sen Const Rusmir was surprised with who he discovered.
“He was a 45-year-old family man who lived in a normal suburban house, was well-educated, had a very well-paying job and his two daughters would often stay with him,” he said.
“He’d never been in trouble with the law. He was a cleanskin, as clean as they get.
But the bigger shock was reserved for the offender when police knocked on his front door on 7 August 2018.
“We genuinely thought he was having a heart attack and were about to call an ambulance,” Det Sen Const Rusmir said.
The suburban father had hidden behind the darknet’s much-vaunted walls of security and anonymity, yet they had come crashing down.
“Even right now, I’m certain there are other crooks on the darknet feeling the same invincibility,” Det Sen Const Rusmir said.
The man made full admissions about his two-year fentanyl trafficking history and even told police about another shipment of the drug that was due to arrive at his home.
In preparing the case for court, the taskforce and prosecutors decided there wasn’t any evidence that specifically linked the accused to the overdose that killed the Western Australian man.
And despite being active for two years, the total amount of fentanyl he sold still did not meet the commercial trafficking threshold of 50 grams.
This, combined with his cooperation with police, resulted in the man receiving a three-year Community Corrections Order.
But the impact of Det Sen Const Rusmir’s investigation goes far beyond this case itself.
The Drug Taskforce’s Detective Inspector Phil Harrison said it helped establish the team’s darknet, cryptocurrency and fentanyl expertise.
“We’re in a new age and Det Sen Const Rusmir was a pioneer in relation to these capabilities,” Det Insp Harrison said.
“The success of this demonstrates Victoria Police can meet the challenge of new threats, even with difficult technology.”
Law enforcement agencies from around the world, including the United States’ DEA, have been asking Victoria Police how it was done.
For his innovation and tenacity, Det Sen Const Rusmir was rewarded with Victoria Police’s highest annual investigative honour, the 2019 Mick Miller Detective of the Year Award.
But accolades and international attention were never Det Sen Const Rusmir’s motivations during the seemingly impossible job.
“I just wanted to prove it could be done,” he said.
