Son of politician and TV personality is arrested and marches through the streets in handcuffs for allegedly selling drugs on the dark web
- Mark Chikarovski, 37, arrested Thursday
- He would have sold drugs on the dark web
The son of a former NSW Liberal leader has been charged after allegedly selling drugs on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Mark Chikarovski, 37, was marched in handcuffs from an apartment in Bondi Junction, east Sydney, on Thursday by police.
He is the son of Kerry Chikarovski, who served as the state’s Liberal leader from 1999 to 2002.
Mark Chikarovski, 37, the son of former Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski, has been arrested on drug charges
Mr Chikarovski, 37, was marched in handcuffs from an apartment in Bondi Junction, east Sydney, by police on Thursday
Mr Chikarovski was taken to Waverley Police Station on Thursday and was charged with 31 offenses on Friday morning, including supplying banned drugs and knowingly handling the proceeds of crime.
Police will allege that Mr Chikarovski has received cryptocurrency thousands of times since 2017 in exchange for banned drugs.
Heavily armed officers had raided an apartment in Bondi Junction and a house in Vaucluse as part of an investigation into the supply of banned drugs through dark web marketplaces.
NSW Police said during the investigation that they had discovered a marketplace where cocaine, methylamphetamine and MDMA were supplied in exchange for cryptocurrency.
During the raids, police found banned drugs, $30,000 in cash, computers, two Porsche SUVs, and approximately $269,000 in crypto.
Mr Chikarovski was taken to Waverley Police Station for questioning and is expected to be charged
The 37-year-old will appear before Waverley Local Court on Friday.
Ms Chikarovski became NSW’s first female opposition leader when she led the Liberal Party in 1999.
She has since founded her own consulting firm, Chikarovski & Associates, and serves as a board member of the home-delivery meal service Tender Loving Cuisine.
She also sits on the boards of a number of different organizations including NSW Rugby Union, Adopt Change, and is an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
Between 2012 and 2014, she also had a weekly radio program titled Chat with Chika.