Doctor who dealt £250,000 worth of drugs on dark web jailed for five years
Shoaib Ahmad, 41, sold ecstasy, cannabis and fake Xanax online.
A doctor who used a Star Wars alter-ego to sell ecstasy, cannabis and fake Xanax online has been jailed for five years.
Shoaib Ahmad, 41, gave the impression of being a “respected professional” while supplying drugs to customers on the dark web, the court heard. The medical practitioner operated under pseudonyms “Imperial Storm Trooper” and “IST” and made at least £250,000 using Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
Ahmad pleaded guilty to 17 offences relating to possession and intent to supply controlled substances on 28 June this year and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday. Passing sentence, the judge remarked that Ahmad would have been given a heavier sentence had he not already spent time in prison in France.
Ahmed was caught when police intercepted a package containing drugs addressed to a rented mailbox in Birmingham in early 2017. It was rented under a different name but paid for through Ahmad’s bank account, and was one of several he rented under various names.
Ahmad used the mailboxes to receive shipments of drugs, which he then sold on to others.
He was also linked to another drug dealer Marc Ward, of Portsmouth, who was arrested by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit in June 2017.
Ward was part of a drugs gang that also dealt under different aliases on various marketplaces on the dark web.
Announcing plans to “retire” from dealing on one of the sites, Ward revealed “Imperial Storm Trooper”, was among several suppliers taking over his trade in counterfeit Xanax.
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Following Ward’s arrest, Ahmad travelled to France in August 2017, crossing into Belgium to the Netherlands. On his return to France, he was searched by French border officers who found him carrying 46kg of ecstasy tablets with a street value of just over 615,000 euros.
Ahmad was arrested, charged and sentenced to six years in prison in France. The French authorities contacted West Midlands Police who searched his home in Halesowen, West Midlands, as part of the ongoing investigation.
Officers found a variety of drugs along with digital devices, which revealed Ahmad’s link to the Imperial Storm Trooper 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 thought he was beyond our reach'
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."
New drugs banned
A case in which three men who made more than £3.5m in cryptocurrency selling fake medication on the dark web sparked a change in drug legislation earlier this year.
The government added 15 new synthetic opioids to the Class A drugs list under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Another five drugs will also be controlled as part of the ban, including cumyl-PeGaClone, a synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist (SCRA) which can cause complications such as seizures and liver failure.
Three stimulants which create similar effects to ketamine - diphenidine, ephenidine and methoxyphenidine - will also be controlled as Class B drugs.
A short-acting benzodiazepine drug named remimazolam will be controlled as a Class C drug. Its legitimate medical uses will then be enabled through amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
The changes were made following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp said: "These new highly dangerous substances have the potential to devastate lives, ruin families and damage local communities.
"We must be one step ahead to ensure we are stopping new drugs from plaguing our streets and endangering the lives of vulnerable people.
"Our strategy is to tackle both the illicit supply of drugs, relentlessly pursuing criminal networks, and to build a world-class treatment system to turn people’s lives around and stop the cycle of crime."
