The alleged “kingpin” in a huge drugs distribution operation involving the dark web must remain in custody, a High Court judge ruled today.
Belfast man Kyle Hall was refused bail amid claims of being at the centre of a sophisticated crime gang who used bitcoin currency and courier services to deliver MDMA and other substances in deals worth more than £200,000.
Some drugs linked to a European-wide investigation were to be sent through the post hidden inside jigsaw puzzles, according to the prosecution. Hall, 25, of Chamberlain Street in city, was arrested during police raids in August.
Searches in Co Derry resulted in the seizure of ecstasy pills, herbal cannabis and diazepam tablets worth an estimated £100,000, it was claimed. Hall is accused of having Class A, B and C drugs with intent to supply, possessing criminal property, and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
A second man, 32-year-old Richard Sinclair from Cranagh Road in Coleraine, was also detained in the operation and faces related charges. It was previously claimed that police discovered Sinclair in his bedroom destroying evidence on an encrypted memory stick.
Hundreds of drugs transactions were said to be displayed on a nearby computer when officers entered. Customer names, email and delivery addresses, types of drugs, quantities, purchases and sales believed to be in excess of £204,000 were retrieved, prosecutors alleged.
The court heard two sealed packages addressed to Hall contained DVD boxes with £1,500 in cash in each. Other three parcels had 60g of suspected MDMA powder. As those searches were being carried out police were alerted to a parcel addressed to Sinclair being left at a courier depot in Belfast.
It allegedly contained two jigsaw puzzles with a total of 3,000 MDMA and other psychedelic pills with a potential street value of £40,000. CCTV footage allegedly showed Hall had left the parcel at the depot. Police searched his home and seized 1,000 ecstasy tablets, 2kg of herbal cannabis, 500g of crystal MDMA and £7,500 in cash, the court heard.
During interviews Hall claimed to run a number of legitimate online businesses, including DVD supplies, bitcoin exchange and web domain hosting. But Conor Maguire, prosecuting, claimed both defendants were involved in supplying and transporting drugs hidden in DVDs and other “innocuous” items.
Opposing bail, he rejected a defence point that a third accused has been released on police bail. Mr Maguire contended: “There’s no parity between (that man) and this applicant who police say was the kingpin, the main player in a very sophisticated, close-knit criminal gang.”
Defence counsel John O’Connor said Hall has made admissions over the drugs found at his home but denies any conspiracy. Mr O’Connor stressed that it was Sinclair who allegedly “designed this ingenious system... for drugs to be distributed via the dark web”.
He also argued that Hall should be released due to expected delays in securing forensic evidence. Denying bail, however, Madam Justice McBride ruled there were no new circumstances to merit granting the application.
