British Man Convicted in Dark Web Drug Conspiracy Linked to Deaths of Two U.S. Navy Sailors
BRUNSWICK, Georgia – A British national faces a possible life sentence after a federal jury in Georgia convicted him of running an international dark web drug operation that distributed fentanyl analogues linked to the deaths of two U.S. Navy submariners.
Paul Anthony Nicholls, 47, of Great Britain, was convicted following a four-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Jurors found Nicholls guilty of conspiracy to import controlled substances resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death. He now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum possible sentence of life, to be imposed by U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to evidence presented at trial, Nicholls conspired with at least one other individual to operate a drug trafficking organization known as “Canada1” on the now-defunct dark web marketplace Dream Market. The operation advertised and sold synthetic opioids, including U-47700 and the fentanyl analogue methoxy acetyl fentanyl, shipping the substances worldwide from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Investigators identified Nicholls as a key participant in packaging and mailing the drugs, which were disguised under the name of a shell company, “East Van ECO Tours,” and sent through Canada Post. Law enforcement intercepted more than 40 packages bearing that label, all of which contained fentanyl analogues in powder and nasal spray form.
Search warrants executed at the homes and vehicles associated with the conspiracy led to the seizure of large quantities of synthetic opioids. Expert testimony valued the drugs recovered from a co-conspirator’s residence at approximately $24 million, with enough lethal material to kill an estimated 375,000 people. Investigators also recovered shipping receipts documenting thousands of packages sent worldwide.
Among those records were two packages delivered to Kingsland, Georgia, in October 2017. After receiving the shipments, U.S. Navy submariners identified in court as B.T.J. and T.L.B. consumed the substances and died of opioid overdoses at T.L.B.’s residence, approximately four days apart.
U.S. Attorney Meg Heap said the case demonstrated the real-world consequences of dark web drug trafficking. “Two of our Navy sailors died because of Nicholls’ distribution of lethal drugs,” Heap said. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who harm people in our communities.”
The investigation involved a wide coalition of U.S. and international agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, among others.
Nicholls’ alleged co-conspirator has been indicted but has not yet been tried. Federal prosecutors emphasized that indictments are accusations and that defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley R. Thompson and Timothy P. Dean, along with former federal prosecutors Frank M. Pennington II and E. Greg Gilluly Jr.
