RC Customers in UK raided - Guardian

[gn2osis]

Note: It's not clear from this article exactly when the raids occurred. - gn2osis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/st...,1492303,00.ht ml

Dawn raids mark crash of online designer drugs trade
Trail of electronic data from US websites leads to convictions for Britons buying psychedelic drugs on net


David McCandless
Thursday May 26, 2005
The Guardian


Police have arrested and prosecuted more than 22 British customers of websites
selling class A designer drugs online after a trail of electronic
evidence from busted websites in the US led police to addresses across
the UK.


The psychedelics drugs, known euphemistically as "research chemicals", have
been sold for several years openly on the internet from websites based
in the US. The US drug enforcement administration shut down the sites
and arrested the owners last year after two deaths, and several cases
of people needing hospital treatment in the US, were linked to the use
of chemicals bought online.

Customer records and credit-card details extracted from seized computers were passed on to the national crime squad in the UK.

Once investigators had verified the intelligence, details were sent out to
police forces. In a countrywide action, named Operation Ismene, the
police carried out dawn raids in 14 counties, including Avon and
Somerset, Greater Manchester, and Leicestershire. Court cases this
month saw several people given fines or community service.

A variety of synthetic drugs were confiscated in the raids, including
2C-I, a new psychedelic drug growing in popularity on the UK dance
scene and described as "the new ecstasy". </font>

Frequently "research chemicals" have euphoric and visual effects similar to that
caused by mescaline, ecstasy (also known as MDMA) and LSD. The majority
do not have street names and are known only by their abbreviated lab
names, such as 5-Meo-DMT, 2-CT-2, and AMT. Most are too powerful
psychedelically to catch on with users or dealers, and have only been
available via the internet.

The burgeoning online trade in these chemicals was first revealed in the
Guardian last year. The trade has flourished in the past five years as
law enforcement has struggled to keep ahead of fast-moving technology.
Online outfits have been able to create a worldwide customer base for
designer drugs by subverting the infrastructure laid down by legitimate
e-commerce such as international couriers and online credit-card
systems.

At the same time, chemists working "underground" routinely synthesise new
drugs to slip through the gaps in international drugs legislation.

The trade only came to the broad attention of US law enforcers after a
death in Louisiana last year. In March 2004, James Downs, 22, died
after an accidental overdose of powdered 2-CT-21 he ordered online.
Police investigating his death traced his purchases to a Las Vegas
"research chemicals" website (americanchemicalsupply.com), one of
several professional operations importing such chemicals from labs in
China and India. The websites were shutdown in a US-wide sting in July
2004 known as Operation Web Tryp.

Court documents have revealed the extent, sophistication and success of these
e-businesses. Each website had thousands of customers in the US and
Europe. The public was able to order a selection of drugs with
"one-click" systems of payment via credit card or Paypal. Ordered drugs
were delivered next day by Fedex and other carriers. </font>


Some sites traded openly while others were more clandestine. All the
websites, including those mentioned here, have been closed down now.

RacResearch.com, based in New York, ran a slick modern site offering broad selections of
up to 20 drugs with free sample packs for first-time customers. Adverts
for the site appeared on Google. Another site - www.pondman.nu
- appeared to be selling fish and pond supplies but was a sophisticated
e-commerce drug operation. Police estimate some sites were making
around $20,000 (about £11,000) a week.

So-called research chemicals are not officially listed as controlled substances
under US drugs laws. However, the website operators were prosecuted
under a law that prohibits the possession and supply of chemicals
"substantially similar" to controlled drugs. All the operators face
likely life sentences. Several have been charged additionally with
causing death or serious injury.

Last week the operator of pondman.nu - 52-year-old David Linder - was found
guilty on 27 charges, including drug conspiracy and money laundering.
He was sentenced to a total of 410 years in prison. He was also ordered
to pay back $700,000 (£389,000) in profits from the website. The
severity of his sentence was related in part to the death of an
18-year-old man in New York who overdosed on the drug
alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) purchased from Linder's site. </font>

Deaths caused by research chemicals, however, appear to be isolated tragedies.
Like ecstasy, most of the chemicals seem to be physically harmless at
low or average doses. The underground websites documenting their use
advise extreme caution. Despite glowing reports of "wow" type
experiences, the site Erowid.org carries the disclaimer: "It is not
reasonable to assume that these chemicals are in any way 'safe' to use
recreationally."

Because the recommended dosages can vary by as little as a thousandths of a
gram, a slight miscalculation can trigger an overdose. When smoked,
just 2mg (a dose smaller than a grain of salt) of the potent chemical
5-MeO-DMT can cause a short-lived but powerful "trip". Heavy doses, or
overdoses, have been known to trigger undesirable physical and
psychological symptoms including profound anxiety, "bad trips",
overheating of the body, and even death.

Thanks to the psychedelic intensity of these drugs, few of the chemicals have
made it as street or club drugs. Their use is generally championed by
"psychonauts", drug hobbyists, usually young men, who experiment alone
or in small groups, exchanging information online.

Many of those arrested in the UK seem to have fallen into this category.
Among those arrested have been students, primary-school workers and
people running lifestyle drugs outfits. They were not primarily career
criminals or drug dealers. Although initially arrested on suspicion of
intent to supply, many saw their charges altered to simple possession.

The national crime squad would not comment yesterday on whether there would be more arrests.

The UK has the strictest laws in the EU on designer drugs. The Misuse Of
Drugs Act was amended in 2002 to include a "catch most" clause
outlawing every drug, and possible future drug, from the LSD
(tryptamine) and ecstasy (phenethylamine) chemical families. The
amendment is a virtual cut-and-paste from the books of the respected
American biochemist Alexander Shulgin, who obtained a PhD from the
University of California, Berkeley. Dr Shulgin, a former research
chemist at the Dow Chemical Company, re-discovered the recipe for MDMA
in 1976 and published the recipes for more than 170 designer drugs of
his own invention.

While research chemicals are still available from websites in China, India
and Japan, the illicit online drugs trade has gone underground as law
enforcers have become more skilled at tracking hi-tech crime. "A drug
supply route between the US and the UK has been dismantled," said Jim
Gamble, deputy director-general of the national crime squad. "Anyone
considering purchasing drugs online should think again, the crime squad
and other law enforcement agencies will track you down."

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great article, thanks for sharing!

[radiometer]

It's a rehash of the story from last winter. Here's the old article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/4111625.stm

My guess is that it's "news" because of David Linder's sentencing. One of
those arrested was a BL member and has posted their story there.Edited by: radiometer

[sg43]

Is this possible in the USA, even though 2c-i is not scheduled...and seriously this people had to have more then agram for them to get raided...SWIM hasnever ordered more then 1gram attime andhopes they wont waste their time on him. Edited by: sg43

[Humanity]

Originally Posted by sg43

Is this possible in the USA, even though 2c-i is not scheduled...and seriously this people had to have more then agram for them to get raided...SWIM hasnever ordered more then 1gram attime andhopes they wont waste their time on him. Edited by: sg43

As mentioned in the article all "LSD-type" psychoactives - trptamines - and all "MDMA-type" drugs - phenethylamines - are banned in the UK.

Not in the US it would seem. . .

Don't think SWIY has anything to worry about given he keeps his orders nice and modest.

[CHEMDUDE]

Originally Posted by Humanity

As mentioned in the article all "LSD-type" psychoactives - trptamines - and all "MDMA-type" drugs - phenethylamines - are banned in the UK.

Not in the US it would seem. . .

Don't think SWIY has anything to worry about given he keeps his orders nice and modest.

HIGH,SINCE when did these RC's become illegal in the uk? from what swim has read,they are legal to buy & posess.swim can order most of the RC's availible and no mention of breaking the law...C_D

[CHEMDUDE]

OR is this part of tony blah and his goon squad amending the criminal (in)justice bill? swim knows for a fact that there is a list of 200 plant parts and cacti that is little known about.swim was given a bottle of herbal preperation at a party,swim got busted and it was a DMT preperation,now a class A drug..it's the root bark? of a tree for fucks sake.and when did they put these 200 plant/cacti on the list? and shouldn't we have the basic human rights to know about these things..

[radiometer]

I found this sidebar:

A psychonaut gets caught

Thursday May 26, 2005
The Guardian

Lawrence, not his real name, was one of the 22 British users of research
chemicals arrested recently. Here he describes what happened to him:
I was woken by a very loud knock on my front door just before sunrise. I
opened the door to be confronted by eight coppers from the local tactical
team, ready with a battering ram.

They searched my room ... and found my personal stash of many
psychedelic compounds including 2CI, 2CB and 5-meo-DMT, nn-DMT,
DPT, 5-meo-DIPT, MDMA [ecstasy], a large bag of dried mushrooms,
close to an ounce of weed, and a small amount of very old GHB powder.

They also took my phone, computer and many financial and drug related
documents. Then they arrested me on suspicion of importing and
possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

I was held in custody for four hours, gave a "no comment" interview on
legal advice, and then bailed to appear a few months later.

When I went back for a police interview, I explained that I was an
intelligent, academic student of mind, consciousness and reality, with no
previous criminal record who used these compounds for self-inquiry,
self-understanding, self-development and self-expression.

I won them over and proved to them that all the substances found were
for personal use. They dropped most of the charges, simply leaving eight
counts of possession. Last week I went to the magistrates court and
walked out with a fine of £75 for each charge, just £600.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for sharing the interesting sidebar

[Turricaine]

Although the poster may not regard 600 GBP as a large amount of money, that is big money for me.

[transit]

Compared
to the <b style="">410 years[/b] that David Linder
was sentenced to and the <b style="">389,000 GBP[/b]
that he was ordered to pay, if I had been “</span><st1:City><st1lace>Lawrence</span></st1lace></st1:City>” I would have viewed the
600 GBP as a pittance and have felt a great sense of relief. </span>Yes, it is still unfair and unjust, but in
relative terms much much much better.</span></span>

[gn2osis]

^ Linder was selling RC's, though. "Lawrence" simply possessed
them, and pretty clearly for personal use. But he's still fairly
lucky. Sounds like in the UK some of the prosecutors still have a
semblance of discretion. I can't imagine too many political hack
prosecutors in the US taking kindly to the "innocent psychonaut"
argument, however reasonable it is in the bigger picture.<!--
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[greg888]

Originally Posted by sg43

Is this possible in the USA, even though 2c-i is not
scheduled...and seriously this people had to have more then a*gram for
them to get raided...SWIM has*never ordered more then 1*gram at*time
and*hopes they wont waste their time on him.

I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened in the USA but that doesn't mean it
couldn't. It's probably a pretty easy case to show that you were planning
on using the RCs illegally rather than for "research", especially since the
whole innocent until proven guilty thing doesn't seem to apply to drug
crimes in the USA. Some people have been contacted by the dea and
been "persuaded" into testifying against the RC vendors in exchange for
immunity. I can't find where i originally read it, but some of those people
busted in the UK hadnt ordered more than a gram of anything. I believe
the cops had a list of customers, but no way of knowing how much or
what they actually bought.

[Cuberun]

Has there been any similar cases in regards to BZP / TFMPP (piperazines) also listed as research chemicals?

[stalefishpeter]

Okay, if they showed up to your house after finding your name on the list, but by then all your stash was gone, could they do anything?

[dr ACE]

Originally Posted by stalefishpeter

Okay, if they showed up to your house after finding your name on the list, but by then all your stash was gone, could they do anything?

the pigs could'nt do sweet sod all because with out any evidence there is no crime simple.so no they could not do 1 thing, so screw them nothing personal i just hate there attitude towards life in general natzi bastards!!

[psychedelaholic]

Is this only happening for RCs that are specifically scheduled or is it for all psychedelic compounds? For example could you get in trouble if the police found out you had bought DXM or 5-meo-dalt or whatever?

[MrMouse]

Operation Ismene was retroactive at the behest of the DEA.

Let's say you order some methylone and it's intercepted by customs then chances are you'll either get a "Love Letter" or a knock on your door even though Methylone is technically legal.

So to answer your question chemicals both legal and illicit could pose a problem. The UK doesn't have an analogues act however we do have "catch nearly all" legislation.

[radiometer]

Has anyone been arrested or prosecuted for purchasing "research chemicals" in the UK since Ismene? I'm curious how often this may be happening, as surely there are still people in the UK ordering them.

[MrMouse]

That's a good question. I've certainly not heard anything.

Then again Ismene was police inspired media propaganda to highlight the risks of charge and prosecution. Those affected received variable sentences from simple cautions to fines and community service. I'm glad our system acknowledged these were victimless crimes. The worst part for some involved was the local media naming and shaming.

[kemistudent]

This was probably political on the part of the UK doing something in response to the US arrests. They probably said hey, your people are ordering from our people. Do something so it looks like your busy.

[Fantasian]

SWIF ordered methylone post Ismene and touch wood has not had any problems. Then again he's moved address a couple of times and no longer holds any ilicit substances at his address.

[Benga]

just a small reminder that the original post dates back to May 2005...

[Abrad]

They have been illegal since 1971. If SWIM orders any tryptamine or phenethylamine (with a few exceptions) he is breaking the law.
This thread may interest you.

[dr ACE]

its illegal to be in caught in possesion but not to order and use these chemicals fucking stupid or what LMAO LOLOLOL oh the ignorance and stupidity of some ppl never stops to amaze swim