No bail for IT man on LSD rap

AN out-of-work computer scientist turned alleged dark web drug peddler will remain behind bars after a magistrate found he was too great a flight risk for bail.

David Stuart Gordon, 39, faced Townsville Magistrates Court from custody on Friday charged with trafficking LSD that he allegedly produced in his North Queensland home.

Police said Gordon ran a “sophisticated” drug operation selling large amounts of LSD and what they suspected to be steroids on the dark web for more than a year.

On September 2, officers arrested Gordon after intercepting him at a post office where he was allegedly trying to post a parcel of drugs.

Police then raided the Mt Louisa property where Gordon lived with his partner and allegedly found more than 80,000 doses of LSD worth almost $850,000, as well as cash and drug paraphernalia.

Defence lawyer Patrick Staunton applied for bail saying his client had assisted investigations beyond what police initially knew.

The court was told six parcels, allegedly sent by Gordon, containing “large” amounts of LSD and vials of suspected steroids destined for locations across the country were seized at an Australia Post mail centre. Police began monitoring Gordon’s activities until he was arrested on Thursday.

Prosecutor Sergeant John Moran opposed the bail application and said Gordon was a flight risk.

“It is a matter of such magnitude that bail should be refused,” Sergeant Moran said.

Mr Staunton said Gordon relocated to Townsville with his partner last year but struggled to find work in the computer science industry.

If Gordon was kept behind bars his ability to engage with rehabilitation programs would be diminished.

“He was taking the drugs that he was onselling for his own self medication,” Mr Staunton said.

Magistrate Viviana Keegan said the items found when police searched Gordon’s home indicated he was making and distributing drugs from the Mt Louisa property.

She said his admissions to police, including that he operated on a dark web marketplace and was paid in crypto currency, would “go in his favour”.

“With the evidence, that is quite overwhelming that I have seen, you are going to face a significant sentence of actual imprisonment,” she said.

Refusing bail, Ms Keegan said Gordon told police he made an estimated profit of $100,000 in crypto currency selling drugs on a marketplace called the White Horse.

“This is a large-scale commercial endeavour,” she said.

The matter will return to court in late October.