Fear and Loathing in Manchester

A group of students, led by a high school graduate, sold drugs for bitcoin, hoping to remain anonymous and confuse a possible investigation. Students studying geology, computer science and pharmacology, after receiving the profits, immediately went to “spend amounts of money that did not correspond to their declared income.” They started hanging out in Jamaica, then moved to the Bahamas, then moved to Europe, where they were able to thoroughly enjoy the taste of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

However, their enterprise, which they managed to run right from the center of Manchester, was shut down by the FBI after more than two years of successful operation. Now talented chemistry student Basil Assaf is facing a lengthy prison sentence after pleading guilty to a 10-count indictment.

Thanks to the evidence gathered, the court learned how, inspired by Walter White - a chemistry teacher - drug dealer and criminal mastermind in the cult TV series Breaking Bad, Assaf created a special account on the site SIlk Road, an off-site black market. reach of regular browsers on the darknet. The gang traded drugs on this platform for two and a half years, until the FBI finally managed to shut down Silk Road. A group of students sold a wide range of ecstasy, hallucinogens LSD and 2CB, as well as ketamine - a horse tranquilizer - throughout America, Europe, and Australia. The total value of their sales was about $1.14 million dollars, however, their profits increased manifold since they only accepted payment in Bitcoin (BTC). Recall that in 2017 the price of Bitcoin increased by 1000%. Assaf didn't even miss the opportunity to show off his new apartment in the center of Manchester. 

Assaf's lawyer recently said he firmly believes his client is “morally innocent” because drug use is widespread in colleges and universities. In private messages recovered from FBI logs during the investigation, Assaf claimed that “no one will ever be able to know how many bitcoins he actually has.” 

Law enforcement officers also found a message in which Assaf wrote to his friend: “I think I killed the girl,” after one of his clients was taken by ambulance straight from a nightclub, where she used ecstasy bought from Basil. “I can remember quite a lot of such terrible stories. When I was selling money, I almost killed a girl with whom we were friends as children.”

In another message, Assaf reassured his accomplice: “We should just be happy that we are doing this. Understand, if everything goes as it should, we will all very soon become millionaires.”

The prosecution has still not been able to trace the bitcoins belonging to Basil Assaf.. The court heard testimony from the prosecutor, and, according to data collected by the prosecution, during the entire period of operation of their “shop,” about 240,000 ecstasy tablets were sold, at an average street price the amount would be about £750,000.

On the phone of James Roden, one of the accomplices, law enforcement officers found many photographs and pictures from the TV series Breaking Bad, which became a kind of “local meme” of the enterprise. 

Twenty-six-year-old Basil Assaf  was the “main figure”, he administered the Silk Road account, and also posted photographs of the goods and prepared the drugs for shipment. 

Geology student Elliot Giams, who studied with Assaf in the same gymnasium, helped at the initial stage of creating the project, however, he was soon forced to leave it, as Giams “tired” of Assaf. Computer science student James Roden and pharmacologist Jaquishen Patel moderated the Silk Road account and participated in the purchase and sale of drugs. Marketing student Joshua Morgan played the smallest role in this structure, like all marketers, - from time to time he was “trusted” to pack the goods for shipment.

Assaf and Giams pleaded guilty to 10 counts, including conspiracy to export, import and supply narcotic substances, as well as possession of a large quantity of LSD with the intent to distribute it. Rhoden and Patel admitted to 9 counts, and future marketer Morgan admitted only to being an “accomplice.” 

According to http://www.dailymail.co.uk