Six individuals in Leeds in Northern England have been convicted for their alleged involvement in a drug trafficking operation that used Bitcoins to import crystal methamphetamine from Canada, Examiner Live reports.
The four main suspects in the case are Hassan Jalilian, Michael Bendo, Gohar Manzoor and Jalilan’s wife, Cheryl Scott.
According to prosecutors, Scott, 45, a fashion designer, became enamored with drug-addicted Jalilan, 27, and allowed him to move into her flat, which he subsequently turned into a drug factory.
Jalilan then began running drugs from the flat with the help of Bendo and Manzoor, two dealers who were also addicted.
The men allegedly sold “ tens of thousands of pounds” worth of drugs from the flat via a “ring and bring” telephone drug delivery service.
Products sold included cocaine, ecstasy, and crystal meth, which Examiner Live claims is very rare in the Yorkshire region of England.
Prosecutor Patrick Palmer claimed the convicted dealers created the market for crystal meth in their region:
“Up until 2017, there was no market for this drug in Yorkshire; thus this group had to create a market.”
Palmer added, ”Jalilian, having seen this gap in the drug market, used his contacts and the dark web to order and import crystal meth and has used cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – to pay for the drug and preserve secrecy.”
Drugs were reportedly imported from Canada by mail and hidden inside, “a popular comparison website’s freebie toys.”
An estimated six-out-of-seven crystal meth cases seen in 2017 in Yorkshire were traced to this drug ring.
But the business began to unravel when, in March 2017, Gahor Manzoor was found “insensible” in his BMW, stranded in the middle of the road.
Tests found he was ten times over “the drug-drive limit” and a search of the car turned up drugs. He was later hospitalized in a drug-induced coma and subsequently arrested.
Later, in May and June of that year, border officials intercepted three parcels from Canada bound for Scott’s home. The parcels reportedly contained 50 grams of crystal meth at 99% purity. The drugs had an estimated street value of £18,000 (~$23 500 USD).
Finally, on June 27, 2017, “Jalilian pulled up in his BMW alongside officers parked outside Scott’s home and criticized their parking.”
When the officers asked him to step out of his car, Jalilan allegedly sprayed them with CS gas, sped off and crashed into several cars, including a parked police car, before running off on foot.
A subsequent search of Scott’s home turned up drugs, digital scales, a money counter, an industrial heat cooker, a vacuum sealer, a receipt for a large hydraulic press and a copy of the book The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld.
Jalilian was eventually apprehended and he, Manzoor, Scott, and Bendo all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell crystal meth, cocaine, MDMA, Mephedrone (M-CAT), and gamma-Butyrolactone.
Jalilan, “also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraudulently evade the importation of crystal meth, having CS gas with intent to resist arrest, possession of CS spray, administering a poisonous or noxious substance with intent, having a hunting knife, having a lock knife, dangerous driving, and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for 11-and-a-half years and disqualified from driving for seven-and-a-half years.”
Scott, 45, also pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to fraudulently evade the importation of crystal meth and possession of a prohibited weapon.” She received a five-year sentence.
Manzoor, 27, pleaded guilty to “possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession with intent to supply crystal meth, possession with intent to supply 4-Chloromethcathinone and possession of criminal property.” He was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.
Bendo, 22, also pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property and “assisting an offender,” and was sentenced to 8 years in jail.
The report by Examiner Live does not state whether Bitcoins were seized during the arrest, though, “drugs worth £61,000 were recovered and at least £45,037 in cash identified.”