Fake £4m Xanax drug gang boss jailed
Up to 11 million tablets were made in various locations in Tipton, Wednesbury and Wolverhampton and then sold on the dark web via cryptocurrency payments.
The criminal enterprise, between 2018 and 19, was run from a luxury villa in Thailand by Brian Pitts, 30, of Beebee Road, Wednesbury, who is one of 10 being sentenced for their part in the operation.
The fake tablets were shipped across the UK and to America, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Pitts, who had earlier pleaded guilty to six charges, including conspiracy to supply Class C drugs, was described by Judge John Butterfield as "the beating heart of this enterprise".
He said the ringleader controlled every part of the drugs operation and was constantly involved in it.
Pitts was arrested by police when he returned to the UK with his then-partner Katie Harlow, who was also part of the Thai-end of the criminal operation.
The officers were able to seize his mobile phone, which prosecutors described as a "goldmine of information", showing his involvement at all levels of the operation.
The court had heard the gang made the tablets in houses, sheds and garages in the West Midlands.
It would be wrong, Judge Butterfield said, to dismiss the enterprise as "a minor cottage industry" and that it was instead "large scale, organised and determined".
The gang's activities had initially come to light after an investigation was launched by Pfizer, the manufacturer of the genuine Xanax tablets, which are used to treat anxiety.
The inquiry was then picked up by the Regional Organised Crime Unit, which discovered the gang had purchased legally four pill-making machines, enabling them to press more than 16,000 tablets an hour.
While the gang made £4m, the number of tablets they made could have fetched them more than £11m, the court heard.
The gang also purchased the powders needed to make the tablets and fake Xanax stamps.
But tests revealed the amount of the active ingredient Alprazalam in the fake tablets varied from none at all to twice the proper amount.
Harlow, 27, of Lane Street, Bilston was sentenced to two years and one month in jail, after she earlier admitted a charge of converting and transferring criminal property.
Judge Butterfield said that while it appeared Pitts had taken some actions in her name, none of them were without her knowledge.
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Gang made millions selling fake Xanax pills on dark web
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New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Tens of thousands flee their homes in Thailand and Cambodia as border clashes enter second day
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Clashes break out across border areas 8 Evacuees rest at a temporary shelter in Oddar Meachey province, Cambodia. REUTERS The Thai military reported clashes early Friday in multiple areas, including along the border at Chong Bok and Phu Makhuea in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province, at Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province, and near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours. The Thai army said Cambodian forces had used heavy artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rocket launchers, prompting what Thai officials described as 'appropriate supporting fire' in return. Thailand said one soldier and 13 civilians were killed, including children, while 15 soldiers and 30 civilians were wounded. 8 The Thai army said Cambodian forces had used heavy artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rocket launchers. AFP via Getty Images Cambodia's chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said a man died Thursday after a Thai rocket hit a Buddhist pagoda where he was hiding. At least four civilians in the province were also wounded Thursday. The Thai army denied it targeted civilian sites in Cambodia, and accused Cambodia of using 'human shields' by positioning their weapons near residential areas. Cambodia also claimed Thai airstrikes had landed near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been at the center of past disputes. Authorities in Phnom Penh released photos they said showed damage to the site and pledged to seek international justice. The Thai military said the temple wasn't in its line of fire and accused Cambodia of distorting facts. Thousands flee villages near the border 8 A villager who fled his home near the Cambodia-Thailand border sits on a cart on the grounds of a pagoda in Oddar Meanchey province on July 25. AFP via Getty Images As the fighting intensified, villagers on both sides have been caught in the crossfire, leading many to flee. Around 600 people took shelter at a gymnasium in a university in Surin, Thailand, about 50 miles from the border. Evacuees sat in groups, on mats and blankets, and queued for food and drinks. Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai was accompanied by four cats in two fabric cages. She said she was doing laundry at her home near Ta Muen Thom temple when shelling began Thursday. 'I just heard, boom, boom. We already prepared the cages, clothes and everything, so we ran and carried our things to the car. I was frightened, scared,' she recalled. Rattana Meeying, another evacuee, said she had also lived through the 2011 clashes between the two countries but described this flare-up as worse. 8 A Cambodian military officer stands on a BM-21 Grad. REUTERS 'Children, old people, were hit out of the blue,' she said. 'I never imagined it would be this violent.' 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Things got worse when a land mine wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday, leading Bangkok to close the border and expel the Cambodian ambassador. The next day, clashes broke out along the border.

USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Thailand, Cambodia exchange heavy artillery as fighting expands for second day
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(Reporting by Shoon Naing and Artorn Pookasook in Surin, Thailand, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Panu Wongcha-um and Devjyot Ghoshal in Bangkok, Francesco Guarascio in Hanoi and Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)


NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
Why these two Asian neighbors just launched the world's latest armed conflict
At least 16 people have been killed in armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, as tensions over a century-old border dispute spiral into the worst fighting between the two Southeast Asian nations in over a decade. Since fighting began Thursday, the two sides have been progressively involving heavier weapons, including artillery and rocket systems, with clashes expanding to 12 locations from six. Both blame the other side for starting the conflict, which Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, warned Friday 'could escalate into a state of war.' At least 14 civilians and one member of the military have been killed on the Thai side, the Thai health ministry said Friday, and more than 130,000 Thai residents have been evacuated to temporary shelters. Cambodia reported one civilian death in the border area. Thailand has accused Cambodia of deliberately targeting civilians, while Cambodia accuses Thailand of using widely prohibited cluster munitions. On Thursday, Thailand, which has a far superior military, used a U.S.-made F-16 fighter jet to carry out an airstrike on a Cambodian military target. The U.S., a longtime treaty ally of Thailand, has called for an 'immediate cessation' of attacks. 'We are particularly alarmed by reports of harm to innocent civilians,' the State Department said Thursday. A simmering conflict The conflict has its roots in the disputed 500-mile border drawn largely by France, Cambodia's colonial ruler until 1953. Cambodia and Thailand have fought several deadly skirmishes since the border was delineated in 1907, particularly in the area surrounding the ancient 11th-century Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, which both sides claim as their own but was affirmed as Cambodian by the International Court of Justice in 1962 and again in 2013. Thailand rejects the court's jurisdiction. The temple's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 prompted another flare-up. Tensions have been building again since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed after both sides opened fire in another contested area where the two meet with Laos, called the Emerald Triangle. Then on Wednesday, five Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion along the border, which kicked off the latest clash. Cambodia denies placing landmines. A series of tit-for-tat moves followed, including both countries expelling each other's diplomats. 'The two sides are now at the point of almost no return,' Pou Sothirak, a former Cambodian ambassador to Japan and a Distinguished Senior Adviser to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies in Phnom Penh, told NBC News. 'They've locked into this 'we're the victim and you're the aggressor' narrative,' he said. Political fallout The dispute has set off political turmoil in Thailand, where Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended early this month after an extraordinary leak of her phone call with Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for almost four decades as effectively a one-party state before handing power to his son Hun Manet two years ago. The father still maintains his grip over Cambodian affairs, which apparently prompted the call by Paetongtarn, 38, whose father, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was known to be close to the 72-year-old Hun Sen. She has said she was trying to defuse the border dispute in the call, during which she referred to Hun Sen as 'uncle.' The conversation, recorded and released by Hun Sen himself, prompted outrage in Thailand, where there was already widespread dissatisfaction with her handling of the border dispute. Paetongtarn also blasted a Thai army commander during the call, angering an institution that has frequently intervened in the country's politics, experts said. 'We have a situation today in which the Thai military is making its own foreign policy against Cambodia. The Thai civilian government has no control over the army at all,' said Paul Wesley Chambers, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. 'It's free for all and really out of control,' he said of the situation this week, adding that the conflict could topple Phumtham as Thailand's acting prime minister. Cambodia said it had urged the United Nations Security Council to intervene in Thailand's 'unprovoked and premeditated military aggression.' Thailand says it wants to resolve the conflict bilaterally, but only after Cambodia ceases its attacks. Neighboring China has offered mediation, but it is seen as closer to the government in Phnom Penh than Bangkok. Negotiating an end is going to be a challenge for both sides, Pou said, as the Thai military's effective self-governance has created a diplomatic hole between Thailand and Cambodia, which in the past has undermined the possibility of a permanent end to the border dispute. 'The Thai military preemptively pressures conflicts,' he said.