Jay Je Yoon Jung, (32), from Sydney in Australia, was one of 51 people arrested in co-ordinated raids across the globe as part of a crackdown on the Ghost network last month.

They included 11 people arrested by gardaí who also seized more than €16 million worth of drugs – mostly cocaine – after the encrypted phone network was infiltrated by police.

Analysis of devices seized during his arrest later allowed investigators to break into an account holding cryptocurrency, and transfer it to the Australian federal police after they deciphered his “seed phrase” for access.

Authorities will seek to have the cryptocurrency, worth $9.3m (5.7m) forfeited to the commonwealth, investigators said on Wednesday.