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Dark web drug supermarket duo from Huddersfield jailed | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Two university friends who bought and sold the deadly drug fentanyl via the dark web have been jailed. | Two university friends who bought and sold the deadly drug fentanyl via the dark web have been jailed. |
Ross Brennan, 28, and Aarron Gledhill, 30, made hundreds of thousands of pounds mixing and selling the high-strength painkiller and other drugs. | Ross Brennan, 28, and Aarron Gledhill, 30, made hundreds of thousands of pounds mixing and selling the high-strength painkiller and other drugs. |
At least 70 people have died in the UK in the last nine months after taking fentanyl, often when mixed with heroin. | At least 70 people have died in the UK in the last nine months after taking fentanyl, often when mixed with heroin. |
Brennan and Gledhill, both from Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to drug and money laundering offences. | Brennan and Gledhill, both from Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to drug and money laundering offences. |
Brennan was jailed for 13 years and eight months while Gledhill was sentenced to three years and nine months by Judge Andrew Stubbs, at York Crown Court. | |
More stories from across Yorkshire | More stories from across Yorkshire |
North Yorkshire Police uncovered the operation when a neighbour raised concerns for the welfare of Brennan, who has autism. | North Yorkshire Police uncovered the operation when a neighbour raised concerns for the welfare of Brennan, who has autism. |
Det Supt Steve Thomas said: "What we found was a production laboratory for synthetic drugs and more traditional drugs. | Det Supt Steve Thomas said: "What we found was a production laboratory for synthetic drugs and more traditional drugs. |
"[We also found] computer equipment that over the weeks and months revealed a sophisticated drug dealing business operating on the dark web under the guise of a business called 'Savage Henry'." | "[We also found] computer equipment that over the weeks and months revealed a sophisticated drug dealing business operating on the dark web under the guise of a business called 'Savage Henry'." |
Brennan and Gledhill made up to £1,000 a day operating the illegal online supermarket for two years on a site called AlphaBay. | |
The duo bought, mixed and sold the drugs, including fentanyl crystal meth and cocaine, using a copy of Chemistry for Dummies before posting them on to people across the UK. | The duo bought, mixed and sold the drugs, including fentanyl crystal meth and cocaine, using a copy of Chemistry for Dummies before posting them on to people across the UK. |
The force said it could only estimate the number of transactions that took place as they used data-shredding software, but the site had received more than 4,000 reviews. | |
Their operation was said to be worth between £275,000 and as £1.5m, depending on the fluctuating value of the virtual currency Bitcoin they traded in. | |
What is fentanyl? | |
Fentanyl - which hit the headlines after it was linked to the death of US singer Prince - is an extremely strong painkiller, prescribed for severe chronic pain, or breakthrough pain which does not respond to regular painkillers. | |
It is an opioid painkiller, which means it works by mimicking the body's natural painkillers, endorphins, that block pain messages to the brain. | |
According to America's Drug Enforcement Agency, it is considered to be 50 times more potent than heroin. | |
The risk of harm is higher if the wrong dose or strength is used. | |
Typical symptoms of a fentanyl overdose include slow and difficult breathing, nausea and vomiting, dizziness and increased blood pressure. | |
Det Supt Thomas said: "These are two individuals who clearly didn't give any consideration to the welfare of their customers. They were only interested in the profit. | |
"These are people who had downloaded a 'Chemistry for Dummies' guide and then sent out potentially dangerous substances, that on any occasion could have resulted in a serious impact on someone's health or even death." | |
He said Brennan would exaggerate his autism and present himself as someone who "struggled to cope with normal life and society" but was really a "sophisticated criminal who was trying to pull the wool over a number of agencies' eyes". | |
Officers had discovered encrypted messages from Brennan in which he "pretended to be more ill than he was". | |
"They also knew that what they were selling was potentially dangerous, that's the thing that really put a chill through the investigation team. | |
"They knew that they were harming people and yet they continued to sell. They put money and profit above the welfare of their customers." | |
Four people who bought drugs from Brennan and Gledhill have died, though police said they cannot prove if their deaths were directly linked to the Savage Henry website. | |
Brennan, of Great Northern Street, and Gledhill, of Almondbury Bank, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import class A drugs, conspiracy to sell class A drugs and concealing criminal property. | |
Brennan also admitted three charges of making indecent images and one of distributing indecent images. He has been put on the sex offenders register for 10 years. |