BBC Midlands Today<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A gang leader who co-ordinated a \u00a34m fake Xanax drug-making operation in sheds and garages across the West Midlands has been jailed for eight years.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The criminal enterprise, between 2018 and 2019, was run from a luxury villa in Thailand by Brian Pitts, 30, who is one of 10 being sentenced for their part in the operation.<\/p>\n The fake tablets were shipped across the UK and to the USA, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tests revealed the amount of the active ingredient Alprazalam in the fake tablets varied from none at all to twice the proper amount.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n He said the ringleader controlled every part of the drugs operation and was constantly involved in it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pitts, of Beebee Road in Wednesbury, 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, and Lee Lloyd.<\/p>\n The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said they were all found with “designer clothes and Rolex watches in their luggage”.<\/p>\n The officers were able to seize Pitts’ mobile phone, which prosecutors described as a “goldmine of information”, showing his involvement at all levels of the operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Four other members of the gang were jailed on Thursday, with five more due to be sentenced in the coming days.<\/p>\n Harlow, 27, of Lane Street, Bilston, was sentenced to two years and one month, after she earlier admitted a charge of converting and transferring criminal property.<\/p>\n Judge Butterfield said that while it appeared Pitts had taken some actions in her name, none of them were without her knowledge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lee Lloyd, 48, of Shakespeare Road, Tipton, was sentenced to seven years and two months, after earlier admitting six charges, including conspiracy to supply Class C drugs.<\/p>\n Judge Butterfield said he was “plainly a trusted right hand man to Brian Pitts” and took regular calls from him.<\/p>\n Kyle Smith, 26, of Arundel Road, Willenhall, was jailed for four years. He had previously pleaded guilty to five charges, including conspiracy to supply Class C drugs.<\/p>\n The court heard he had been involved in packaging, posting and record-keeping and had been “in the middle of packaging pills” when police visited him.<\/p>\n Mark Bayley, 63, of Jeremy Road, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to six years and five months. He also previously pleaded guilty to five charges, including conspiracy to supply Class C drugs and possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.<\/p>\n Police found a pill-making machine in operation at his address and he was described as having “pre-existing expertise”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Judge Butterfield said it would be wrong to dismiss the enterprise as “a minor cottage industry” and that it was instead “large scale, organised and determined”.<\/p>\n The gang 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n While the gang made \u00a34m, the number of tablets they made could have fetched them more than \u00a311m, the court heard.<\/p>\n The gang also purchased the powders needed to make the tablets from China and bought fake Xanax stamps.<\/p>\n Illicit Alprazolam can contain other unknown and potentially harmful sedative drugs, and has been linked with a number of deaths in both the UK and US when mixed with other potent drugs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The UK Health Security Agency said there was evidence use was “a growing problem, particularly among young people and young adults”.<\/p>\n Cranstoun, a harm reduction charity in the Black Country, said counterfeit drugs were often “much more potent and stronger than the drugs they are masquerading as”.<\/p>\n “We’re proud of the role we played alongside the authorities to ensure these serious criminals were brought to justice,” said Patrick Holt, director of global security at Pfizer. <\/p>\n “We dedicated time, resource and expertise to ensure these illicit counterfeit activities were prevented in order to protect public health.”<\/p>\n Jonathan Kelleher from the CPS said it had been a case of “fake medicines being produced on an industrial scale, with significant potential harm to the public”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"West](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/03cf\/live\/a7eb5a30-0978-11f0-8c19-810852503a69.jpg.webp\")
West Midlands Police<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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West Midlands Police<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Could have fetched \u00a311m’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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