Public Prosecution Service warns against online fake pharmacies

The death of a woman in Voorburg last summer led to the discovery of a huge amount of life-threatening illegal medicines. The stock was seized, and two suspects involved in distributing them appeared in court for the first time today. The Public Prosecution Service once again warned about the dangers of online fake pharmacies.

A 44-year-old woman was found dead on April 1 this year in her home in Voorburg. She died from a therapeutic to toxic concentration of nitazene. This is a very strong painkiller that is difficult to dose and can easily lead to an overdose. Various types of pills were found at the womans home, including counterfeit pills of the painkiller oxycodone which actually contained the much more dangerous nitazene.

Investigation into where the woman ordered her medication led to two suspects aged 28 and 33 from Breda. At one of them, the 28-year-old suspect, a quantity of illegal medicines was found so large that the police needed a truck to remove everything. The other suspect worked at a postal company, delivering orders directly to the sorting center, from where they were sent throughout the country.

The police seized tens of thousands of boxes and strips containing hundreds of thousands of pills with various substances. In addition, a message was sent to everyone the police could identify who had ordered counterfeit oxycodone from these suspects.

Life-threatening

Because it cannot be established that the deadly pill came from either of these two suspects, the womans death is not charged to them. However, they are suspected of years of trading in illegal medicines, hard drugs, and soft drugs.

Today was a first preliminary hearing, where the case was not substantively dealt with but the status of the investigation was discussed. The Public Prosecution Service uses this first hearing to warn again about the danger of online fake pharmacies. If you order medicines online outside the usual channels, you dont know what you are buying, said the public prosecutor. You dont know what you are swallowing and you dont know what the consequences can be.