A south London man has been jailed for his part in a sophisticated dark web cocaine operation.
Helio Delfini, 43, of Rotherhithe Street in Southwark, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday (April 17) after pleading guilty in March last year to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Along with Lucas Costa and Bruno Teles, Delfini operated under the dark web vendor name ‘UKWhite’, supplying cocaine across the UK and overseas.
Costa was jailed for 14 years and Teles for 12 years in February after they were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and three counts of possessing a Class C drug with intent to supply.
Officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) uncovered thousands of transactions through the UKWhite account, with more than 28kg of high-purity cocaine distributed over 14 months.
Detective Inspector Ross Flay said: "Along with his co-conspirators, Delfini used anonymising technology and cryptocurrency-based payments to run a sophisticated dark web drug supply network from his home in London.
"However, thanks to the painstaking digital forensic work undertaken by my colleagues and with support from our international partners, we were able to identify the people behind UKWhite and remove the vendor from the dark web."
Over the course of the investigation, authorities determined that the trio had sent cocaine to customers across the UK and internationally, using the dark web to facilitate sales and conceal their identities.
Customers ordered cocaine in quantities ranging from half a gram to bulk shipments of 100 grams or more, all posted from the group’s addresses in London.
The investigation began in 2020 and involved extensive digital forensic work to trace the online activity back to the men involved.
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