Jail for Harborough drug dealer found with more than £300,000 of Bitcoins

A Market Harborough drug dealer found with Bitcoins worth more than £300,000 has been jailed for eight years in a highly-unusual case.
Paul Johnson.Paul Johnson.
Paul Johnson.

Paul Johnson, 32, is now behind bars after he traded in the digital currency to buy and sell drugs in a slick worldwide racket.

It’s only one of a handful of crimes all over the UK where cryptocurrency has been used in this way, police said.

Johnson thought he was being cunning and would stay one step ahead of the law by dealing in Bitcoins in a bid to hide his crimes.

But justice was done when the criminal, who used his ill-gotten gains to buy a house and several cars, was locked up at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday February 5.

The brazen crook was arrested after police swooped on his home in Northampton Road, Harborough, in December 2017.

Officers seized a stash of deadly hard drugs, including MDMA tablets, LSD, heroin and ketamine, as well as other drugs paraphernalia.

Digital media investigators also on the raid caught stunned Johnson red-handed – as he actively traded with Bitcoins on his laptop.

The expert information technology specialists also found orders for drugs on his computer.

Johnson was trafficking drugs from a number of countries around the world.

The villain was using three properties he was renting as the delivery addresses in a highly-organised criminal operation.

Johnson used his loft at home in Harborough to weigh and package the drugs before posting them out to customers.

Police also pounced on Johnson’s laptop and secured Bitcoin wallets containing 22.7 coins.

When those coins were converted into sterling they were valued at more than £300,000.

Drugs with a street value of almost £7,000 were also recovered from his house.

Johnson admitted supplying class A and B drugs, possession with intent to supply class A drugs, improper importation of goods – class A and B drugs – to the UK and five counts of money laundering at court on January 24.

He was jailed at Leicester Crown Court for eight years – including four years to be served on licence – on Wednesday February 5.

A second person, Lia Johnson, 28, also pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to four counts of money laundering.

Lia Johnson, also of Northampton Road, Harborough, was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for her part in the criminal network.

After the case, Paul Wenlock, of Leicestershire Police Economic Crime Unit, said: “Johnson used the internet to commit his crimes.

“He ran an organised business enterprise and traded in cryptocurrency in an attempt to hide his criminal activity from the authorities.

“He used his criminal gains to purchase a property and cars.”

He stressed: “This is one of a handful of cases nationally where cryptocurrency has been used in this way.

“This result is testament to the knowledge and experience of the digital media investigators who quickly identified what Johnson was doing online and were able to secure the Bitcoins.

“This was a lengthy and complex investigation carried out by financial investigators within the unit.

“The evidence against Johnson was overwhelming and he had no choice but to admit to his crimes.

“He may not have traded drugs on the street.

“But Johnson knew exactly what he was doing and it’s only right that he now faces a lengthy custodial sentence.”