Four members of a United Kingdom organized crime gang, including an 80-year-old man and his son, have been jailed for almost 50 years following an investigation into a multi-million pound counterfeit guns and drugs operation in Wigan, northern England, according to Greater Manchester Police.
Authorities described the operation as an “industrial-scale tablet manufacturing facility”.
It was run by John Eric Spiby, 80, who had previously won £2.4 million (C$4.4 million) in a lottery draw in 2010. The four men involved were found guilty of producing and supplying counterfeit diazepam tablets, possessing a firearm, possessing ammunition and perverting the course of justice, among other charges.
(Diazepam is an anti-anxiety medication used to calm the nervous system, relieve muscle spasms, treat seizures, and ease alcohol withdrawal.)
Spiby and John Spiby Jr., 37, denied the offenses but were found guilty following a trial in November 2025, Greater Manchester Police said.
On the left, John Spiby; on the right, his son John Spiby, Jr.
Greater Manchester Police
Two other men, Callum Dorian, 35, and Lee Ryan Drury, 45, were also found guilty and sentenced to 12 and nine years respectively. Dorian was imprisoned in 2024.
Callum Dorian, left, and Lee Drury, right.
Greater Manchester Police
The court heard that Spiby Sr. “provided the premises, helped to adapt them and purchase machinery” worth thousands of pounds to produce the drugs. the Guardian reported.
According to the outlet, Judge Clarke KC, overseeing Spiby’s sentencing on Tuesday, told him: “Despite winning the lottery, you continued to live a life of crime beyond what would normally have been your retirement years.” »
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Prosecutor Emma Clarke said the gang was involved in the production of counterfeit diazepam with an estimated street value of £288 million (C$424 million).
Police identified the facility as “a cottage behind Spiby Senior’s house”, which contained “an industrial-scale tablet manufacturing facility capable of producing tens of thousands of tablets per hour”.
The group rented a shipping container storing millions of pills awaiting distribution. Spiby also owned an industrial unit, which he purchased in 2021 with the intention of reconverting and expanding the group’s production capacity, police said.
Adam Kent KC, representing Spiby Sr, said Dorian was the “principal of this operation”. He said that, in Dorian’s words, “the guy whose gaffe we’re using is a millionaire”, meaning Spiby Sr.
Some of the guns found in Spiby’s home were from World War II, he noted.
Social media messages sent via encrypted platforms were traced to Dorian, who used the handle “Fallensoda,” police said.
“Posts and images linked to this username showed the facilitation and provision of firearms, including AK-47s, an Uzi, Tec-9s, a Scorpion, a Grand Power pistol, silencers, and ammunition,” according to investigators.
In an attempt to operate without detection, Drury created a fake company in August 2020, complete with a website advertising pill presses, blenders, packaging machines and powdered supplements.
“The sentences should serve as a clear warning that organized crime will not be tolerated,” said Det. Insp. Alex Brown said in a statement.
“We will continue to pursue those who seek to profit from evil, and we will use every power and tool available to disrupt and dismantle the most serious organized crime gangs. »
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