See more DutchNews articles in your Google search results

See more DutchNews articles in your Google search results

Add as a favourite source on Google Add DutchNews as a favourite source on GoogleDutch prosecutors say they have linked three more deaths to drugs bought on the Dutch-run Funcaps website, bringing the total number to 21.

Jord van W. and Stefan P., aged 31 and 30 and both from Limburg, have been charged with earning millions of euros from the sale of fake tranquilisers and sleeping pills, which are usually only available on prescription, as well as designer drugs.

The duo, who didn’t have a license to sell medicines, were closed down and sentenced in April by a Belgium court to three years in prison, including a year and a half suspended, for the illegal trafficking of medicines and drugs.

But they continued to trade in the Netherlands, where they achieved sales of €42 million in five years. They were arrested in August last year along with a third man, Van W.’s brother, who has been released but remains a suspect.

Prosecutors told a court in Zwolle that three more people had been identified who had died after taking drugs sold on Funcaps, while another two deaths are being investigated.

The website offered free gifts for large orders as well as a discount scheme and described its illegal medicines collection as “research chemicals”. They came with no usage information.

The website also sold sex toys, smoking tools and smart drugs, promising “discreet packaging” to clients.

“We did not foresee that a causal connection would be found in so many cases,” they said.

Many of the victims were “young people in the prime of their lives,” Zwolle judges heard. “That’s what makes this case so serious and unique.”

The next hearing is scheduled for November.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation