'Respected' doctor from Dudley jailed over Dark Web drug deals
Shoaib Ahmad, previously of Dale Road, Halesowen was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday 11 December
A doctor who ‘acted under the cloak of anonymity’ on the Dark Web, using guises, including 'Imperial Storm Trooper' and 'IST', has been jailed after carrying out drug deals online.
It’s estimated 41-year-old Shoaib Ahmed made over £250,000 during the year he was trading, between July 2016 and August 2017.
The man, previously from Dale Road in Halesowen, already served six years in France for related offences, and will now spend five years behind bars here in the UK.
He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday (December 11), after being put on remand two years earlier following his time behind bars on the other side of the English Channel.
Investigations into the doctor's involvement started back in early 2017 - when it was revealed he intercepted a package, which contained drugs to a Birmingham mailbox, which has been rented under a different name.
Despite this fact, the mailbox was actually rented through Ahmad's bank account.
It wasn't the only one, either, as police found several rented mailboxes across the West Midlands linked to him, under several names, during their investigation, which they found to be used for receiving shipments of drugs, which were then sold on to others.
Officers revealed his trade on the Dark Web was usually through Bitcoin, and dealt with ecstasy, cannabis and fake versions of Xanax, appearing under a number of guises, including 'Imperial Storm Trooper' and 'IST'.
Ahmad was also linked to another drug dealer, Portsmouth-based Marc Ward, who was arrested by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit in June 2017, for his involvement in a drugs gang who also dealt under a number of different names on the Dark Web.
Announcing plans to “retire” from dealing on one of these sites, Ward revealed that Ahmad’s alter-ego, the Imperial Storm Trooper, was among several suppliers who would be taking over his trade in counterfeit Xanax.
Following Ward’s arrest, Ahmad travelled to France in August 2017, crossing into Belgium to the Netherlands, and when he returned to France, border officials found him carrying 46kg of ecstasy tablets with a street value of just over 615,000 euros.
Ahmad was arrested, charged and subsequently sentenced to six years in prison in France - with the local authorities sharing their intelligence with West Midlands Police as part of their ongoing investigations.
Officers in the West Midlands then searched his home address in Halesowen where they drugs and digital devices, which revealed Ahmad’s link to the Imperial Stormtrooper profile and his illegal online drug deals.
Ahmad was extradited from France to the UK in July 2021 and was placed on remand awaiting trial.
He pleaded guilty on 28 June this year and was jailed last Monday (December 11) for a total of 17 offences relating to possession and intent to supply controlled substances.
Passing sentence, the judge remarked that Ahmad would have been given a heavier sentence had he not already spent time in prison in France.
Detective Constable Holly Percival from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit’s cyber-crime team said:
“To the outside world Shoaib Ahmad was a respected professional and very far from most people’s idea of a drug dealer.
Behind the scenes however, within the secretive community operating on the dark web, he was heavily involved in selling illegal drugs.
"As a registered medical practitioner, Ahmad knew well the dangers these drugs posed but he had little regard for others, only for his own profit.
"He also thought he was beyond our reach, acting under the cloak of anonymity on the dark web, but we are as relentless in our pursuit of those who carry out crimes in cyberspace as we are tackling those who offend on the streets.
"We have the technical expertise and resource to take on these criminals and we are determined to disrupt the drug trades wherever it takes place.
"Ahmad’s capture is testament to our resolve."