A self-styled novelist and Breaking Bad fan is being extradited to the US after he was charged with trafficking £15million-worth of fentanyl linked to the deaths of two navy submariners.
Married father-of-two Paul Nicholls, 46, is accused of peddling the drug – 50 times stronger than heroin – on the ‘dark web’.
US submariners Brian Jarrell and Ty Bell died of fentanyl overdoses within days of each other and are said to have been among his customers.
Nicholls, a self-published author from Stoke-on-Trent, has written books under the pen name Nico Laeser, some of which feature drug addiction. He also previously painted Walter White, the drug-dealing anti-hero of his favourite TV series Breaking Bad – showing off his artwork online.
He claims the charges of large-scale deadly drug dealing and money laundering against him are as fictional as the plots of his own novels. However, an application Nicholls made to the European Court of Human Rights to stop his extradition failed last month, and the National Crime Agency is now arranging his removal.
According to US police, Nicholls ran a global fentanyl smuggling ring alongside Canadian Thomas Federuik, 62, between at least April 2017 and February 2018.
The Briton was living in Canada with his since-estranged wife and children, and supposedly working as an artist and novelist, giving interviews about his books. Prosecutors say his real business was dealing drugs.
Married father-of-two Paul Nicholls, 46, is accused of peddling the drug – 50 times stronger than heroin – on the ‘dark web’
Nicholls, a self-published author from Stoke-on-Trent, has written books under the pen name Nico Laeser, some of which feature drug addiction. He also previously painted Walter White, the drug-dealing anti-hero of his favourite TV series Breaking Bad – showing off his artwork online. The artwork is pictured
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller that is legitimately prescribed by doctors, but its recreational use has been blamed for tens of thousands of overdoses in the US.
And prosecutors say the synthetic opioid sold by Nicholls and Federuik caused the deaths of Mr Jarrell, 25 and Mr Bell, 26, who were stationed together at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County, Georgia.
Mr Jarrell, a sonar technician, was found dead at his military home in October 2017, after his wife raised the alarm following his disappearance from a family trip to Orlando.
His body was found by his housemate Mr Bell, who sailed on the ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming. Then, in the same property just four days later, Mr Bell himself was found dead.
The US navy said both men had died of a fentanyl overdose. Special agent for homeland security investigations Katrina Berger said: ‘This poison ultimately led to the deaths of two service members and destroyed the lives of countless others.’
According to US prosecutors, ‘both sailors had received a package from a dark web vendor using packaging postmarked from Canada and labelled “East Van Eco Tours” just prior to their deaths’.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties, were involved in investigations following the officers’ deaths. By December 2017, an undercover officer had bought pills from a suspect they later identified as Federuik.
A surveillance operation in Vancouver then observed Federuik and Nicholls dropping off packages for shipment. Intercepted, these were said to contain drugs and had an ‘East Van Eco Tours’ label.
Left, Brian Jerrell and right, Ty Bell. The US submariners died of fentanyl overdoses within days of each other and are said to have been among Nicholls’ customers
Prosecutors claim the drugs were brought into Canada from China and Hungary wholesale, before being sold on to more than 300 customers in the US and around the world.
In February 2018, the police raided properties linked to Frederuik in Vancouver and uncovered traces of fentanyl, as well as postal receipts containing the details of deliveries.
The Mounties said that at least £15million-worth of the drug was involved, enough to ‘cause the deaths of thousands’.
Nicholls was arrested after allegedly dropping off six drug packages at a post office.
After his capture he was sent back to Britain for overstaying his Canadian visa. He was then re-arrested by Britain’s National Extradition Unit in May 2022 at Manchester airport as he prepared to fly to Thailand.
Nicholls is currently being held in London’s Wandsworth prison. He faces charges of conspiracies to import and distribute controlled substances, and money laundering. He could be fined £8million and jailed for life.
His blog and interviews display a fascination with vampires and zombies – including a painting of himself as a member of the undead. It is unclear how much money he has made from his self-published novels.
His lawyer Karen Todner told the Daily Mail: ‘Nicholls denies any involvement in the supply of drugs to the US.’
