Feds believe Williams smoke shop owner sells marijuana on dark web marketplace

Authorities found pot packaged, ready for sale at his home

Federal investigators want to search a Williams smoke shop for evidence that the owner sells marijuana on the dark web.

Law enforcement already searched the Arbuckle home of Eric Friccero on Jan. 31 and found large quantities of marijuana packaged for sale that were consistent with the marijuana products advertised on Friccero’s Dream Market vendor page – a dark web marketplace (portions of the Internet not open to the general public’s view), according to an application for a search warrant filed in the Eastern District of California.

The federal investigation into Friccero began last summer, when an FBI special agent placed an undercover purchase of a half-pound of marijuana from whom they believed to be Friccero’s online business, referred to in the document as Vendor 1, and had the parcel sent to a P.O. Box controlled by the USPS in another state. The buy was conducted using Bitcoin as payment (Bitcoin is a digital currency and operates independently of a central bank). On July 20, investigators opened the package and discovered marijuana weighing 261 grams.

On July 25, 2018, an FBI special agent placed a second undercover purchase of a quarter-pound of marijuana. On Aug. 4, the parcel was delivered. In three undercover buys, the return addresses for the parcel came from Sacramento-area homes that were actively for sale.

Investigators obtained security camera footage of Friccero dropping off packages at post offices and obtained Pacific Gas & Electric utility records which showed periods of excessive electrical usage indicative of an indoor marijuana grow operation, according to court documents. Friccero’s alleged business joined the Dream marketplace in July 2017 and has worked with a significant number of customers – by last month, the vendor had 4,100 reviews. It offers marijuana products including cartridges, distillates, concentrates, oils and marijuana buds in up to multi-pound quantities. When Friccero’s Hahn Road home was searched, he voluntarily told a special agent that he was the owner of a smoke shop business at 561 Seventh St. in Williams. Agents will be looking for financial and business records that “may reveal the concealment of illicit dark web proceeds being represented as legitimate income,” according to court documents.

Friccero was arrested and indicted on two federal counts: manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance, and conspiracy to manufacture, to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He posted bail and was released Feb. 1 with a number of conditions.

The case against him was filed Jan. 29 but was recently unsealed.

A Linda man remains in critical condition after being stabbed Monday afternoon.

Yuba County sheriff’s deputies responded to Adventist Health/rideout just before 2:30 p.m. for a report of a man with a stab wound to the chest, department spokeswoman Leslie Carbah said in an email Tuesday.

Deputies believe the 51-year-old man was involved in some sort of altercation in the backyard of his residence in the 6100 block of Sunshine Avenue in east Linda.

Carbah said there is no known suspect or motive at this time, but the case is under active investigation.