'Breaking Bad' Manchester Uni students jailed over million dollar drugs ring
They've been given a total of nearly 50 years behind bars
Four Manchester University students - who were inspired by the show 'Breaking Bad' to set up a million dollar drugs ring on the dark web, have been jailed for a total of nearly 50 years.
Basil Assaf, Elliott Hyams, James Roden, and Jaikishen Patel - all in their 20s and from London - met at Manchester Uni and became heavy drug users in their first year.
But after being inspired by the hit TV series Breaking Bad the court heard they decided to start a virtual dealing racket on the dark web, selling drugs in America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Manchester.
It was led by Assaf and they raked in about $1 million, using the virtual currency Bitcoin. As a result, they enjoyed lavish lifestyles and holidays to Jamaica and the Bahamas.
The sold the drugs on a website known as Silk Road, which is modeled on sites such as eBay and Amazon.
It was on a part of the internet known as the dark web and was used to sell a variety of illicit goods, though it was most well-known for drug sales.
Junior member Joshua Morgan, 28, of Manchester, was paid to package drugs for the group.
He was jailed for over 7 years.
But the party atmosphere eventually gave way to vicious infighting, with Assaf sacking Hyams over his unreliability and Hyams making off with a large quantity of drugs as compensation.
In a bitter text exchange Assaf said to Hyams: “I won’t hesitate to ruin your life. Your mother will find out the truth.”
Assaf followed through on the threat, texting Hyams’s mother details of his drug dealer lifestyle.
In October 2013 the FBI shut down the Silk Road and seized its servers.
The FBI shared information which meant NCA officers could catch Assaf’s group by surprise, arresting him and Roden at their shared flat in Manchester shortly after the site stopped working.
The officers found four sets of scales, heat sealing devices, envelopes and jiffy bags, label printers, £4,500 in cash and more than 11,000 individual doses of LSD.
All four admitted the various counts of conspiracy to importing, exporting and supplying controlled drugs
Ian Glover, senior operations manager at the NCA, said: “These five men were interested only in making money. They had no regard whatsoever for the harm these drugs could do to their users.
“The FBI’s excellent work shut the site down in 2013 in a globally significant operation and information they shared with us enabled us to identify, arrest and successfully build this case.
"Sites on the dark net represent a new variation on old crimes and are dealt with accordingly.
“The NCA has the capability and determination to bring offenders targeting the UK to justice regardless of how secure they feel hiding behind technology.
"We collaborate with our international partners in order to make the dark web a less attractive place for criminals to operate.
“We are taking steps against those that sell illegal commodities, which is part of a wider strategy to tackle online marketplaces.