British Breaking Bad fan extradited to US after 'trafficking fentanyl worth millions'
Plans underway to open first safe drug consumption facility in Britain
GB News
A British Breaking Bad fan is being extradited to the United States over allegations he ran a multi-million pound fentanyl trafficking operation linked to the deaths of two US Navy submariners.
Paul Nicholls, 46, from Stoke-on-Trent, is accused of smuggling the potent opioid into America via the dark web alongside a Canadian associate.
The National Crime Agency has confirmed the extradition is proceeding after Nicholls unsuccessfully appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.
The self-published author and father of two faces charges related to drug trafficking that allegedly led to the 2017 overdose deaths of two American servicemen stationed at a naval submarine base in Georgia.
The quantity seized was reportedly enough to cause thousands of deaths
Getty
Nicholls, who wrote books under the pseudonym Nico Laeser, demonstrated his fascination with the TV series Breaking Bad by painting and sharing artwork of the show's protagonist Walter White online.
US prosecutors allege he operated a global fentanyl smuggling ring with Thomas Federuik, 62, from West Vancouver, between April 2017 and February 2018.
The pair allegedly imported fentanyl from China and Hungary, distributing it across the US through dark web operations under various business names, including "East Van Eco Tours".
At the time of the alleged offences, Nicholls was living in Canada with his now estranged wife and children, before being deported to the UK following his arrest for delivering drug parcels.
MORE LIKE THIS:
Nicholls is from Stoke-on-Trent
Wikimedia Commons
Brian Jarrell, 25, and Ty Bell, 26, both stationed at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia, died from fentanyl overdoses within days of each other in 2017.
Investigators traced a package sent to the submariners in October 2017, bearing the label "East Van Eco Tours", back to Nicholls and Federuik.
Surveillance operations later captured the pair dropping off similarly labelled packages containing drugs.
"This poison ultimately led to the deaths of two service members and destroyed the lives of countless others," said Katrina Berger, special agent for Homeland Security investigations.
The drug, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, was allegedly purchased from Nicholls and his associate via dark web channels.
Nicholls demonstrated his fascination with the TV series Breaking Bad by painting and sharing artwork of the show's protagonist Walter White online
Flickr
Properties linked to Nicholls and Federuik were raided in February 2018, with Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovering mail tracking slips and approximately C$30 million (£16.7 million) worth of fentanyl.
The quantity seized was reportedly enough to cause thousands of deaths.
Nicholls, who had overstayed his Canadian visa, was deported to Britain immediately after the raid.
He was later rearrested at Manchester airport in May 2022 and is currently being held at London's Wandsworth prison.
He faces charges of conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances, as well as money laundering.
Through his lawyer Karen Todner, Nicholls maintains his innocence, telling the Daily Mail: "Nicholls denies any involvement in the supply of drugs to the US."
You may like
