Daniel Barwell, a Doncaster councillor, played a part in a major drug trafficking operation between the US and the UK. Much of Daniel’s business took place on the dark web. Should he be trialled and found guilty in the US, Daniel could face up to 20 years in prison.
A Druglord In Yorkshire?
A man who lives in South Yorkshire, England, named Daniel Barwell, was elected to the Doncaster Council of Labor back in May 2021. Little did the community know that Barwell has a dirty little secret. However, After almost a year in office, the police came knocking.
In February 2022, Daniel was arrested under suspicion of conspiring to remotely distribute the drug (magic mushrooms) using darknet markets. According to court documents,
“A note prepared ahead of his sentencing hearing said the defendant acted as a “re-shipper.” This took place for almost five years “a conspiracy that flourished on the dark web.”
Initially, Daniel had already been suspended by the Labour party. But Daniel officially resigned after losing an appeal for bail. He also wrote a letter to the community saying
I always said I wanted the best for the state and ward as a whole. Everyone realises now that I wasn’t full of it and lying for the votes! I knew Yeturde campaigned on literally the exact same things I did. So hopefully She can help finish off where I started. Please apologise to everyone on the ClayLane Community for me. I should be a better role model. One they deserved and I whole heatedly mean to make up for my time away tenfold.
Pass on my thanks also, please. I knew it wouldn’t take long to reach the news but as far as I could tell, every time a post went up, there were at least half a dozen Clay Lane residents ready to defend my character. In a world where actions and character seem to be judged together, it brought a tear to my eye to see and hear good things said about me. I had the comments sent to me and built a lovely matchstick frame to put them in so every time I look up, I feel a moment of pride, to forget the shame of the situation I’m in.”
Daniel Barwell writes to his community as he feels he dissapointed them.
Running A Darknet Drug Operation
Although there aren’t many details on Daniels’s drug operation, we know he distributed magic mushrooms (as well as other psychedelics) using the dark web markets. It doesn’t seem Daniel ran the operation. However, the councillor sold nearly $100,000 of psychedelics to multiple drug organisations.
Almost all of Daniels’s funds were tied up in crypto, with drug-related transactions dating back to May 2016. Authorities can’t prove whether Daniel has access to these funds or if it’s an alternative darkweb member who controls it.
It’s claimed that Daniel elected to withdraw from his position in the darkweb game once he joined the council, but this is not confirmed.
Although it seems clear that Daniel had not acted alone in the drug trafficking operation. There were more than 40,000 transactions traced to this particular vendor.
“The US government is concerned that he received tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrencies and therefore it may well be difficult to trace those monies. It is very important to distinguish on the very limited evidence we have at this stage, what the organisation is alleged to have done and what Mr Barwell is alleged to have done. If it is an international organisation, Mr Barwell represents a small cog in that very much larger machine in the prosecution case.
CyberCrimes Unit Representitive
As a participating member of the drug-trafficking operation, Daniel would fly from the UK to the US and process these drugs in hotel rooms. Daniel would then deliver the cash back to the UK. During his case, Ohio representatives claimed that Daniel imported around 3 tons of illegal psychedelic mushrooms.
Daniels Barwell Trial And Conviction
Since his arrest, US officials from the state of Ohio have worked on extraditing Daniel but have run into many issues along the way. His first court appearance occurred on February 3 in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The main topic of this meeting was to have Daniel extradited.
Here Daniels’s lawyer used another case of US citizen Anne Sacoolas as an example as to why Daniel should be sentenced remotely.
“[This] undermined any suggestion that the same could not be done the other way round in this case” This indicated that it was unlikely for Daniel to be extradited. Judge Sarah Morrison agreed and remote proceedings began.
Since his arrest, Daniel has been detained in London for nine months, but due to delays in his case, the magistrate has moved Daniel to live with his mother under an “extradition bond.”
Although Daniel is not under full house arrest, he is put under an “electronic cerfew” and must report to the Doncaster police station in Waterdale atleast three times a week. He has also surrendered his driving licence and passport.
On March 28th, Daniel appeared before a High Court judge via video link, where he pleaded guilty. The maximum sentence he could face if found guilty is 20 years. Daniels official sentence will be given in his next hearing.
Hey there, I’m a dark web geek who’s been around for the last 8 years. More precisely, I’m livedarknet’s senior content writer who’s been writing about darknet marketplaces, tutorials, and cybersecurity stuff for educational purposes.