Millions in Bitcoin were seized in a police operation. Per a report by news portal Birmingham Live, Jehanzeb Amar and Salahyndin Warsame were convicted for running a drug trafficking operation in Birmingham.
In over two years, the subjects were paid more than $4.8 million (around 3.5 million in pounds sterling) for selling “huge amounts” of illicit substances, such as cocaine, heroin, LSD, and others. Their operations were conducted in the dark web via social media as “TheOnlyLw” and “LetsWork”, the report claims.
The drugs were spread across U.K. territory via the public service of the Post Office and were allegedly brought to that country from Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, and other destinations, the substances were referred to as “New Boly” in social media. The subjects were captured by an undercover operation enforce by the local police.
Bitcoin As Payment For Illegal Activities
Post capture, the subjects confessed and pledge guilty of two charges, conspiracy to supply illicit drugs and acquisition of criminal property. Amar received a 13 years sentence and 6 months, Warsame a 10 years and 6 months sentence, as reported by the news portal. Prosecutor Michael Harrison said the following on the case:
This case involves the online selling of Class A drugs. From February 2020 police investigated online social media sites known as LetsWork and TheOnlyLw. The main drug on offer was cocaine although other Class A drugs were available, such as heroin and LSD. Payments were to be made by cryptocurrency.
The authorities claimed that one kilogram of the illegal substances reached a price of $66,386.60 (around 47,000 pounds sterling) and could be sold on websites with more than 1,000 subscribers.
The subjects were captured in different locations. Amar received an arrest warrant which was executed on a house, used by the subjects as a “factory to prepare drugs for sale”, as Birmingham Live stated. On the premises, the authorities recovered 2,000 Kg of cocaine and $27660.90 in cash.
Warsame was arrested in his vehicle, a Volkswagen Caddy. He was suspected to be moving to a post office. He was captured with more than 61 packages for their clients.
On a different location, in the vicinities of Hall Green, authorities recovered different fonds in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They were stored in many crypto wallets. In total, the subjects had over $5 million acquired by illicit methods.
The thesis of Bitcoin’s role in illegal activity has been defended by regulators around the world. Many times is used as an excuse to dismiss the sector and cryptocurrencies. Data shared by Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Acting Director Michael Morell proves these assets are less involved in criminal activities than the U.S. dollar and fiat currency.
Morrell claims that less than 1% of BTC transactions are for non-legal purposes. The data points to a decline in this metric which stood at 7% in 2021 and has been descending ever since.
BTC is trading at $56.794 with a 7.1% profit in the daily chart. On the weekly and monthly chart, BTC has a 9.2% profit and 3.3% loss, respectively.
