Luton man convicted for his part in selling fake prescription drugs worth over £20 million on dark web

Charlton Pascal, 30, was part a gang of men who flaunted cash they made from selling the counterfeit drugs. The gang sold drugs like Xanax and other benzodiazepines and blew the money on the lavish lifestyle they bragged about on social media.

Under the orders of Christopher Kirkby, Pascal collected the fake drugs from a ‘lab’ and met fellow gang member Thomas Durden. Kirkby had showed off a £1,250 bottle of Crystal Rose on his social media account during a visit a Knightsbridge restaurant.

Under the name ‘HulkedBenzoBoss’, Marc Ward sold the counterfeit pills – leaving some who bought them addicted. Thomas Durden, 36, Christopher Kirkby, 35, Marc Ward, 36, flashed their trips to fancy restaurants and nightclubs in posts on their Instagram pages.

Pfizer Global Security, which used to manufactured Xanax, started an investigation in June 2016 when the company made test purchases and found that Ward was behind the dark web name ‘HulkedBenzoBoss’. The case was passed to police and Ward was arrested a year later in Hampshire.

While Ward was in custody, the organised crime detectives shut down their ‘lab’ in a lock-up in Kent. In a bid to reinvent themselves, the gang began trading as AchlysUK.

Pfizer made more purchases and discovered Pascal was operating behind the Achlysuk identity. Durden, Kirkby and Pascal’s properties were raided four months later and each man was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the conspiracy.

Pascal, of Luton, pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court to conspiring to supply class C drug, Alprazolam in December last year. He will be sentenced at a hearing at the same court in May.

Detective Superintendent Neil Cripps, a senior investigating officer at the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), said: "This organised crime group worked to set up a ‘business’ to act as a cover, producing and supplying counterfeit Xanax and other class C drugs on a commercial scale with a street value in excess of £20 million.”

DS Cripps said that the gang’s actions had ‘devastating’ impacts on those who had bought the drugs for casual use and found themselves addicted to what are highly dangerous substances.