National Student Story: Manchester ‘Breaking Bad’ students jailed

A group of five students from the University of Manchester have been jailed for up to 15 years after making over £800,000 selling drugs on the dark web before being intercepted by the FBI in 2013.

The students used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle which included holidaying in the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Amsterdam and drinking Veuve Clicquot rosé champagne, which costs around £45 per bottle. It is even believed that the gang’s leader bought a flat in Manchester’s city centre and paid off his student loan with his share of the profits.

The group, composed of students studying Pharmacology, Computer Science, Petrochemical Engineering, Geology and Marketing, began the operation selling drugs to fellow Manchester students before expanding across Europe, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. They sold ecstasy, LSD, and ketamine on Silk Road, the original dark web market best known as a platform to sell drugs, using the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Between May 2011 and October 2013, the students sold 16.7 kilograms of ecstasy, 1.23 kilograms of 2CB, a drug stronger than ecstasy, and 1.46 kilograms of ketamine in over 6,000 worldwide transactions. This led to their nomination as drug dealer of the year on the website at one point, with the leader boasting in messages to his accomplice: “Nominated for shotter of the year haha on SR. Someone posted a thread and prof nominated us. TBF if they knew what we did IRL we do deserve it.”

Between May 2011 and October 2013, the students sold 16.7 kilograms of ecstasy, 1.23 kilograms of 2CB, a drug stronger than ecstasy, and 1.46 kilograms of ketamine in over 6,000 worldwide transactions

The court heard that the comparison between the students and Walter White, the Breaking Bad character who manufactures and deals, was a running joke amongst the group and a photo of a flask recovered from one of the student’s phones even featured an image of the character.

The first arrests were made at the Manchester city centre flat in October 2013, when the FBI shut down Silk Road. Police found laptops used to access the dark web, thousands of pounds in cash, and drugs.

The judge at their trial stated: “As intelligent men, you will each appreciate the misery that is caused and contributed to by people like you. My duty is threefold: firstly, to protect the public from people like you. Second, to punish you, and third, to deter those who may be similarly minded to act this way in the future.”

He added: “These offences are so serious that only immediate custody and sentences of some length can be considered.”

Ian Glover, who is Senior Operations Manager at the National Crime Agency, stated: “These five men were interested only in making money. They had no regard whatsoever for the harm these drugs could do to their users.”

He added: “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.”