British man who was living in Vancouver convicted in U.S. dark web drug trafficking

A British man has been convicted in the State of Georgia for conspiring to distribute and import fentanyl analogues and other novel controlled substances on a dark web platform called “Dream Market.”

The importation and distribution of these substances led to the death of two members of the United States Navy in 2017, the RCMP’s Federal Policing Pacific Region stated in a release.

Paul Anthony Nicholls, 47, was living in Vancouver, B.C., in 2017 and conspired with at least one other person to run a drug trafficking operation titled Canada1 on the now-defunct dark web marketplace, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

During Nicholls’ trial, Lower Mainland RCMP officers testified about intercepting more than 40 packages containing fentanyl in both nasal spray and powder form.

“They were importing fentanyl into Canada and then they were concealing it in nasal spray and then trafficking that via people purchasing it on the dark web,” Sgt. Tammy Lobb, media relations officer for the Federal Policing Pacific Region, told Global News.

Mounties had been tracking Nicholls and another man, Thomas Federuik, capturing them allegedly sending off fentanyl shipments through Canada Post.

Lobb said that U.S. officials had reached out to the RCMP when the two members of the U.S. Navy had overdosed on drugs and died.

“At that point, law enforcement in the U.S. worked with our investigators here and they identified linkages in that investigation and our investigators here had recommended approximately 77 charges on two individuals that they had arrested here in the Lower Mainland as they identified as being allegedly responsible for these crimes,” she said.

Lobb added that with further consultation with U.S. officials, it was determined that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would take conduct of prosecuting these cases in the U.S.

Nicholls was convicted of one count of Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances Resulting in Death and one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances Resulting in Death following a four-day jury trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Nicholls faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years imprisonment, with a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, as well as significant monetary penalties.

Lobb said that 13 RCMP officers travelled to Georgia to testify in the trial.

“This conviction was achieved through the hard work and cooperation of our law enforcement officers and Canadian law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Meg Heap said in a statement.

“Two of our navy sailors died because of Nicholl’s distribution of lethal drugs. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm people in our communities.”

Federuik is currently out on bail, Lobb confirmed, awaiting extradition to the United States.

He has been charged with one count of Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances Resulting in Death and one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances Resulting in Death and one count of money laundering, Lobb stated.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, expert witness testimony at trial valued the fentanyl analogues recovered from Federuik’s home at $24,000,000 and indicated that there were enough substances present to kill 375,000 people.

“Drug traffickers who operate on the dark web often believe their crimes are detached from real-world consequences. This conviction proves that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, in a statement.

“DEA will continue working with our state and local partners in pursuing those who endanger lives for profit.”

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