Australian Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

An Australian man was sentenced to more than ten years in prison for selling drugs purchased on the darkweb.

Dov Tenenboim, 36, was sentenced to prison after he admitted that between 2017 and 2018 he imported and resold large quantities of drugs including cocaine, MDMA, and Ketamine.

During Tenenboim’s trial, the NSW District Court heard that Tenenboim was arrested in June 2018, following a five-month-long investigation. A business associate of the defendant provided police with information about the drug trafficking operation.

The associate claimed he had control of the drug trafficking operation when Tenenboim traveled out of the country. During one of Tenenboim’s trips overseas, the police caught the associate with 2.5 kilograms of ecstasy pills, 66 grams of cocaine, ketamine, and MDMA. After his arrest, the associate told investigators about Tenenboim’s operation. He explained that Tenenboim purchased drugs through the darkweb and had packages shipped to unoccupied rental properties. Tenenboim’s accomplices collected the packages and prepare their contents for resale.

The informant’s revelations resulted in the interception of a drug package addressed to one of the addresses used by Tenenboim. Police found and seized a total of two kilograms of cocaine, 500 grams of MDMA, and a kilogram of ketamine hidden in soap tins and baby formula. After intercepting the package, authorities obtained and executed a search warrant at Tenenboim’s in early June 2018. The search resulted in the seizure of undisclosed drugs, computers, mobile phones, a diamond ring, $69,685 in cash, and cryptocurrency worth $350,000 at the time. The search also resulted in Tenenboim’s arrest.

Tenenboim pleaded guilty to importing and trafficking a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs, and two counts of possessing illicit drugs in September 2020. Tenenboim told the court, though, that he had no connection to the drugs found in his former associate’s possession. Tenenboim claimed that the associate had established his own drug trafficking operation.

Tenenboim appeared before Judge Ian McClintock on September 6, 2021, for his sentencing hearing. Judge McClintock sentenced him to a total of 16 years and four months in prison. Tenenboim will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years and six months of his sentence.