back to article Global drug-dealing cyber crime web was centred on ... Aberdovey

A 30-year old man from Aberdovey has been sentenced to two years in prison, thanks to his dark web drug dealing. Cei William Owens, 30, from Ceunant, Aberdovey, was nabbed by the coppers last year as part of an international investigation which targeted the bigger players in the dark net drug-dealing world. Owens, who used …

  1. Andrew Moore
    Flame

    Pedant Alert!

    That would be Starlord's Strontium Dog

  2. BongoJoe
    Facepalm

    Asking for abuse

    Sheep Marketplace. Really...?

  3. Hollerith 1

    Not surprising

    Aberdovey being a well-known sinkhole of depravity and global corruption. Have always avoided.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not surprising

      I was also curious about the police reference to "organised crime". There doesn't seem to be any evidence that this chap was part of some sort of group

      Using terms like "the dark web" and "organised crime" do make it sound a lot more interesting than it is....... and perhaps make us all feel how well the police and government are doing to protect us all from such terrors.

  4. Thecowking

    Strontium Dogs was an excellent series though, that and ABC Warriors are crying out for TV series. Luke Kirby got toned down and became Harry Potter (though apparently that was convergent evolution)

    I wonder if there's a Strontium Dogs collection on the Kindle like there is for lots of Dredd.

    Oh and Nikolai Dante, I loved that too. I should really resub to 2000AD

    1. Chris King

      NUMBER FOUR CARTRIDGE ! *BOOM*

      I know it's a Farcebook link, but scroll down the page for the trailer.

      It was produced by the team behind "Judge Minty" and it's going to premiere at the 40 Years of Thrill-Power Festival on Feb 11th.

      P.S.

      Big chunks of the Cursed Earth scenes in "Judge Minty" were shot in Llanberis.

  5. MrWibble

    To be fair, there's fuck all else to do in Aberdovey...

    1. saxicola

      Far more exciting than Borth though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Borth

        next to a sensory deprivation tank the most boring place in the UK, but there are a few ghost towns in the New Mexico desert that could Borth a serious challenge

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Other than hitting trains with golf balls

    3. BellaCrocket

      A man who's visited for sure :)

  6. Scott Broukell
    Meh

    Historical Note:

    The use of 'Psycho-active' drugs really mushroomed in the mid to late 1960s.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OK but how did they track him down?

    Can we have the details? What technology/methods led them to a real name and address?

    (coz'... u know... just asking.... for a friend....)

    1. Mark 65

      Re: OK but how did they track him down?

      There's several problems with the dark web and the dealing of dodgey merchandise:

      1. Physical delivery leaves traces all over the place.

      2. BitCoin can be reasonably anonymous but your customers aren't necessarily the brightest people out there.

      3. The numb-nut customer caught out with one parcel is the weak link for a dealer who has made 444 transactions.

      4. and more besides

      As an example for (1) - inadvertent police discovery of a parcel or a client with a delivery will likely yield a postmark. For sparsely populated areas of the country this can likely be narrowed down quite quickly to a post office. Given a username and a sales platform - the collared client will be singing for their freedom - it most likely didn't take long to narrow down a search area and patterns of behaviour (POs used on certain days/times of day etc).

      Dealing on the dark web for goods that don't require physical delivery such as CC numbers I would guess is a lot harder to nail down.

    2. BellaCrocket

      Re: OK but how did they track him down?

      Under cover snoopers is what did it in the end.

  8. Stevie

    Bah!

    The giveaway was the offer of "LLysergic Acid Dai-ethylamide".

    1. Intractable Potsherd
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Bah!

      New keyboard, please!

  9. 080
    Holmes

    Baaa

    I heard that he objected to a photo of his girlfriend on Sheep Marketplace.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sentencing

    seems to be something of a disconnect between mega international dark web overlord criminal and 2 years in prison. You would almost think someone was trying to spin the story or maybe the judge thought living in aberdovey counted as time served

  11. iLuddite

    requiem for TOR

    Sad to see what has become of TOR. It seemed such a good idea once, the ability to avoid the scrutiny of dictatorships.

  12. badger31

    I feel much safer with this crime king pin behind bars.

    All these years, and still no sarcasm icon. Seriously?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Therin lies the problem

    Instead of receiving a 12-15 year prison sentence this crim gets a slap on the wrist. Does anyone think a 2 year prison sentence will deter this crim or other crims?

    1. mickm

      Re: Therin lies the problem

      What, he should get more than a murderer for selling some weed and pills?

    2. Mark 65

      Re: Therin lies the problem

      2 year sentence to think of a better workflow seems a fair enough punishment. As pointed out, 12-15 is longer than for rape or murder - are you f*cking nuts?

    3. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Therin lies the problem @AC OP

      If he'd actually done anything serious, I might agree with you, AC. However, he hasn't, and I think the sentence is far too strong.

  14. Alan Brown Silver badge

    The solution to the illegal drugs marketplaces is to legalise and tax the hell out if it.

    1: it'd be cheaper and safer than what's on sale now

    2: it takes money away from gangs

    3: crossing the inland revenue(ie tax evasion) is less advisable than crossing the drug squads.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There is an advantage of it being used for dealing drugs - as dealers get caught flaws are likely discovered in the operation of TOR et al. This leads to solutions and workflows with better security for the end user. Although some may not like that these advances benefit criminals they also help protect dissidents and whistle-blowers. I'd rather there was a large target to go after that gave transparency to such flaws rather than people just disappearing and having them relatively unknown.

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