UK: A dealer paid in bitcoin sentenced to four years in prison, Rolex and BTC seized

A ledger, but not the right one. Benjamin Dack was selling cannabis in the Scarborough area and settling his transactions in cryptocurrencies. He thought the blockchain would serve as a discreet vault. York Crown Court sentenced him to four years in prison on Friday, October 23, and ordered the seizure of his bitcoins as well as his Rolex watches. The British police forget nothing when there is BTC involved in a case.

However, the haul is almost laughable. His 4,104 pounds of bitcoin are worth just under 5,000 euros at current rates, costing him four years behind bars.

Key points of this article:

• Benjamin Dack, 28, homeless, received a four-year sentence in York on October 23
• The investigation dates back to 2023, and the trafficking continued after an initial arrest
• His phone revealed purchases and sales of cannabis settled in crypto
• Investigators seized the equivalent of £4,104 in bitcoin, £7,580 in cash, and Rolex watches
• A confiscation hearing is set for March 2027

Scarborough Fair in bitcoin and cannabis version

The song talks about parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. But Benjamin Dack's menu was shorter. Cannabis, in bulk, sold from the seaside resort of North Yorkshire and its surroundings. Then the local police opened their investigation in 2023 and arrested him for the first time.

You know the rest. Dack resumed his business as if the police custody had been just a minor setback.

But his phone was talking in his place. According to BBC News, the device shows that the man was buying and selling his goods in cryptocurrencies. In short, a turnkey accounting system for investigators.

In court, the defendant then changed three pleas to "guilty." Possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of criminal property, and participation in the supply of drugs. An assault on an emergency services member, dated April 22, 2026, remains in the file without being judged. Investigator Alfie Thomlinson summarizes the case in one sentence: Dack was "heavily involved in the large-scale supply of cannabis."

And then there are the watches. Rolexes, seized along with the rest, are the official accessory of the crypto criminal for a good decade, just like that fentanyl dealer from the darknet who faced twenty years.

The bitcoin blockchain is an open ledger to investigators

The misunderstanding is always the same. A bitcoin does not hide in a sock. It is recorded on a blockchain, a public ledger that anyone can consult. A financial investigator from North Yorkshire armed with a coffee and a block explorer can do so too. An address remains a pseudonym. However, investigators know how to link it to an identity as soon as an exchange or a seized phone enters the loop.

Amy Monkman, the financial investigator on the case, states it bluntly. "Cryptocurrency is becoming a popular method to hide assets," and her service intends to continue tracking them. In total, the seizure amounts to about £4,104 in bitcoin and £7,580 in cash, nearly 14,000 euros at current rates.

The justice system has scheduled a hearing for March 2027 under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the British law that allows for the confiscation of criminal profits. The Rolexes will be included, as well as anything else investigators find by then on the chain.

Chainalysis repeats it in each of its reports: criminals always think their transactions are untraceable. Yet, blockchain analysts sell precisely the opposite to police forces around the world.

Benjamin Dack's 4,104 pounds will be a drop in the bucket for the British war chest. The UK still holds the 61,000 bitcoins seized in the Chinese Ponzi case. And it is still looking for whom to return them.

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