Jailed: Dudley doctor 'made £250,000' selling drugs online under Star Wars pseudonym
A doctor who illegally sold drugs on the dark web under a Star Wars-inspired pseudonym has been locked up for five years.
Shoaib Ahmad, previously of Dale Road in Halesowen, was caught transporting 123,000 ecstasy tablets weighing 46kg with an estimated street value of 615,000 euros in the boot of his Jaguar.
The doctor spent a year selling drugs between July 2016 and August 2017, with an investigation beginning when police intercepted a package containing drugs addressed to a rented mailbox in Birmingham.
Although rented under a different name, the mailbox was paid for through Ahmad’s bank account, and was one of several across the West Midlands that he rented under various names.
These were used to receive drugs which he sold on, with Ahmad trading in ecstasy, cannabis and fake versions of the anxiety-reducing medication Xanax which can be abused for sedative effects.
Selling the dugs by Bitcoin on the dark web, the 41-year-old used names such as 'Imperial Storm Trooper' and 'IST' to make an estimate £250,000.
Police linked Ahmad to Portsmouth-based drug dealer Marc Ward, who was arrested in June 2017, shortly before his 'retirement' from drug dealing.
Ward had told customers on the dark web that 'Imperial Storm Trooper' was among several suppliers who would be taking over his trade in counterfeit Xanax.
Ahmad went to France in August 2017 before travelling on to Belgium and the Netherlands, but was caught with the large haul of ecstasy tablets by French border officials on his return.
Authorities in France jailed him for six years and informed West Midlands Police about the doctor's illegal trade, leading to a search of his Halesowen home.
There, officers found a variety of drugs along with digital devices, which when analysed revealed his link to the Imperial Storm Trooper profile and his illegal online drug deals.
After being extradited in July 2021, Ahmad admitted 17 offences relating to possession and intent to supply controlled substances on June 28 this year.
Passing sentence, the judge remarked that Ahmad would have been given a heavier sentence had he not already spent time in prison in France.
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."
Ahmad was struck off the UK medical register in 2020.
