British couple jailed for running drugs empire from Thailand villa
A British couple who orchestrated a massive drugs empire from their plush villa in Thailand have been banged up for 10 years.
Brian Pitts and Katie Harlow masterminded the production and distribution of millions of fake Xanax pills, raking in a staggering £4 million (176 million baht) through the dark web.
Operating from their luxurious Thai hideaway between 2018 and 2019, the 30 year old Pitts and 27 year old Harlow maintained the facade of high-flying expats. But beneath the glamorous exterior lay a sinister operation that saw up to 11 million counterfeit pills churned out from makeshift labs across the West Midlands.
The duo cleverly utilised cryptocurrency to conceal their illicit gains, laundering the dirty money through bitcoin.
The net closed around the couple following a five-year international investigation spearheaded by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Ltd.
Their globe-trotting lifestyle came crashing down in August 2019 when they arrived from Thailand, their luggage crammed with designer clothes and Rolex watches.
Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, March 27, heard the grim details of their audacious network.
Pitts, the ringleader from Bilston, West Midlands, reportedly confessed to conspiracy to supply class C drugs and trademark offences, earning himself an eight-year stint behind bars.
His partner in crime, Harlow, who lived in a nondescript semi-detached house with Pitts, admitted to money laundering and received a sentence of two years and one month.
The shocking scale of the operation was unveiled when police raided a shed in Tipton, unearthing a fake Xanax factory complete with an industrial powder mixer. Simultaneously, a Wolverhampton garage bust led to the discovery of a tablet press machine, metal pill casts, powders, and even a handwritten recipe list.
Detectives tracked the purchase of four pill press machines from a UK firm for £30,000 (1.32 million baht), capable of pumping out 10,000 pills an hour.
As part of the probe, a significant shipment of Alprazolam and analogue Adinazolam powder from China, along with other bulking agents, was intercepted.
The courtroom drama doesn’t end with Pitts and Harlow. Three other members of their gang received hefty sentences, while five more await their day in court.
Forty-eight-year-old Lee Lloyd, of Tipton, West Midlands, was sentenced to seven years and two months for multiple charges, including conspiracy to supply Class C drugs, reported The Daily Mail.
Twenty-six-year-old Kyle Smith, of Willenhall, was handed four years after pleading guilty to similar offences.
Meanwhile, 63 year old Mark Bayley, of Wolverhampton, was jailed for six years and five months on charges including possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.
Speaking after the case, Jonathan Kelleher from the Crown Prosecution Service highlighted the grave danger posed by the gang’s reckless pursuit of profit.
“This was a case of fake medicines being produced on an industrial scale, with significant potential harm to the public.”
Detective Inspector Dave Hollies of the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit added, “The scale of production of these counterfeit tablets ran in the millions.”
He revealed that the gang had purchased over two tonnes of bulking agent, with active ingredients weighing in at 220kg, underscoring the chilling efficiency of their operation.
Xanax, a powerful tranquilliser used to treat anxiety and panic attacks, is not available on the NHS but can be prescribed privately in the UK.
The gang’s counterfeit concoctions could have unleashed untold harm on unsuspecting users—an insidious threat now neutralised by law enforcement.
For Pitts and Harlow, the dream is over. Their ill-gotten gains and lavish lifestyle now serve as a stark reminder of the price to be paid for playing the dangerous game of international drug trafficking.
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