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High-tech cops bust internet drugs ring
The entrepreneurial dot-com spirit lives on...

By Andy McCue

Published: Monday 22 December 2003

Police have busted an internet drugs operation estimated to have made around half a million pounds using password-protected websites for selling cannabis.

The investigation was co-ordinated by the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and involved officers from Hertfordshire and Sussex police forces.

Three people, a 37-year old man and a 33-year old woman from Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire and a 35-year old man from Brighton have been arrested and are being interviewed today by police on suspicion of selling the drugs over the internet.

They are suspected of running password-protected websites accessed by customers who would place orders for cannabis, which would then be dispatched by post. Close to £500,000 passed through the suspects' bank accounts, which have now been frozen.

Detective Superintendent Mick Deats, deputy head of the NHTCU, said in a statement: "Whether drugs are being sold on a street corner or over the internet, we are committed to work together in the battle against drug trafficking. These arrests show that, with a little coordination, we can remove these people from the market - on or off-line."