British police are carrying out welfare checks on addresses where a poisonous substance linked to suicides may have been sent.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is working with Canadian police in its investigation sparked by the arrest of Canadian citizen Kenneth Law, who is charged with “counselling or aiding” two deaths by suicides.
British officials are working to identify possible cases of vulnerable people buying the poison in Britain, reported the BBC.
Law, a former aerospace engineer, is alleged to have run an online business that sold a substance to customers in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The 57-year-old is accused of sending 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries.
It is not known whether if they all contained the substance, which has some industrial uses but has also been linked to suicides.
Canada’s Peel Police said its investigation began in late March when a Canadian citizen died of poisoning as a result of the substance allegedly purchased through an online company owned by Law.
Earlier this week, Canadian police charged Law with two counts of “counselling or aiding” suicide on Tuesday in relation to Canadian adults.
Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said: “We would not have laid the charges if we did not have the grounds to lay those charges.”
Law’s arrest comes after a probe by the Times newspaper, which alleged his businesses had links to at least four deaths in the UK.
Mr Law is due to appear in court on May 9.
Speaking to Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper last week, he said: “I’m selling a legal product, okay. And what the person does with it? I have no control.”
Under Canada’s criminal code, counselling or aiding a person to die by suicide can result in a 14-year prison sentence.
