Ross Brennan and Aarron Gledhill met at university and devised a plan to create an illegal business empire, selling highly dangerous drugs on the dark web. They utilized a downloaded copy of Chemistry for Dummies to mix and sell drugs, including the deadly painkiller fentanyl, which is reported to be 100 times more potent than heroin.

For three years, their operation went undetected until police uncovered their factory. Authorities found evidence of the production of synthetic drugs, alongside traditional narcotics, as well as computer equipment that indicated a sophisticated drug-dealing enterprise hidden on the dark web.

Both from Huddersfield, Brennan and Gledhill were reportedly earning up to £1,000 a day by running an illegal online supermarket on a site called AlphaBay, which was later shut down. Their activities included buying, mixing, and selling drugs, including cocaine and fentanyl, which they shipped across the country.

They sourced drugs globally, utilizing the postal system to import substances from the USA, Poland, Mexico, Canada, and Holland. Their illegal enterprise was valued at approximately £1.5 million, fluctuating with the value of virtual currency Bitcoin, and was operated from a flat in York.

The pair showed a blatant disregard for customer safety, as four individuals who purchased drugs from them died, although police could not establish a direct link to their website, known as Savage Henry.

Brennan, a computer programmer, acknowledged the risks in conversations with Gledhill, claiming awareness of 'bodies out there' linked to their activities. In 2017, they pleaded guilty to drug and money laundering offenses during a hearing at York Crown Court.

Brennan and Gledhill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import class A drugs, conspiring to sell those drugs, and concealing criminal property. Brennan, previously of Great Northern Street, and Gledhill, formerly of Almondbury Bank, both in Huddersfield, were sentenced accordingly.

Brennan, who was known for an extravagant lifestyle, also confessed to three charges of making indecent images and one charge of distributing them, resulting in him being placed on the sex offenders register for ten years. He received a sentence of 13 years and eight months, while Gledhill was sentenced to four years and seven months.

The judge characterized Brennan as a 'sophisticated and arrogant 21st-century criminal.' Notably, this case was described as the first of its kind in the UK.

A detective from North Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation, labeled Brennan as greedy, stating, "I'm confident that Brennan in particular had no doubt about the potential consequences. He was just too greedy, devious, and calculating to stop."