A father and son have been found guilty of running a large-scale drugs factory in west London selling pharmaceutical drugs on the dark web.
Allen Valentine, his son Roshan Valentine and childhood friend Krunal Patel made £3.5million producing and selling Benzodiazepines, a type of sedative, which is a Class C drug.
The trio advertised the sale of Xanax, Diazepam and Valium in exchange for cryptocurrency on several markets on the dark web. The drugs were then posted through the mail.
Detectives tracked the three men visiting a warehouse unit at Acton Business Park. It was from here that the drugs were produced, packaged and supplied under the guise of a company called Puzzle Logistics Limited.
Each of the men visited the unit on a daily basis, often staying for much of the day. Krunal Patel would frequently leave with large bags, returning 10 to 15 minutes later without the contents of the bags.
Detectives utilised specialist cyber tactics to prove the three men converted £3.5million from cryptocurrency into fiat currency (sterling). The accounts have been frozen by police.
Krunal Patel was arrested close to the warehouse, with 15 parcels labelled for posting to addresses across the UK.
Inside those parcels were tablets imprinted “Xanax” and “Teva”, both brand names for licensed medicines within the Benzodiazepine group. Roshan and Allen Valentine were arrested later that same day.
Officers searched the warehouse and found a concealed laboratory where a large amount of equipment and several containers of chemical substances were discovered, along with numerous crates of pills manufactured on site.
The pills were analysed and found to contain Class C drugs from the Benzodiazepine group including Deschloroetizolam, Flubromazepam, Bromazolam and Flualprazolam.
Allen Valentine told the jury he was a doctor and has qualifications in pharmacy, enquiries are currently ongoing to verify the claims.
Detective Constable Alex Hawkins, of the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit led the investigation. He said: “The three men ran a sophisticated, large scale production of fake pharmaceutical drugs sold on the dark web that appeared to be genuine. Their operation was solely for the greed of those involved bearing no concern for the vulnerabilities of those purchasing these drugs.
“Some of the drugs contained completely different chemicals from those which should be in the genuine tablets; some of them are extremely dangerous.
“This is the first seizure of those chemicals in the UK and as such legislation will be amended later this year to include these drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act as Class A substances. Stopping the manufacturing of these drugs has removed a significant risk to the public.
“We would like to thank pharmaceutical companies Viatris and Teva UK for assisting the Met in our investigation and supporting our prosecution against these dangerous and fraudulent men.
“I’d urge anyone to seek medical advice and obtain a prescription for medication through a doctor. If you buy from the dark web there is no guarantee what is in the substances, as with this case.”
All three were charged with conspiracy to produce Class C drugs and money laundering offences on August 19 last year and were remanded in custody.
Krunal Patel, 40, of Carmalite Road, Harrow, and Roshan Valentine, 39, of Hilliard Road, Northwood pleaded guilty to eight offences around supplying Class C drugs on Friday, 10 February at Isleworth Crown Court.
Allen Valentine, 62, of Kynaston Wood, Harrow, pleaded not guilty to the same offences and was found guilty on Tuesday, 9 May following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.
They will be sentenced on a date to be determined.
A confiscation hearing to legally obtain their illegal profits will take place in due course.
