Pill factory in the backyard 80-year-old lottery millionaire builds drug empire - sentenced

He won over two million pounds in the lottery. But instead of enjoying his retirement, a British senior citizen built up an illegal tablet cartel. Now he has been sentenced to over 16 years in prison.

A bizarre criminal case is making headlines in Great Britain. A court in Bolton has sentenced 80-year-old John Eric Spiby to 16 years and six months in prison. The elderly man was believed to be the mastermind behind an organized gang that produced counterfeit drugs on a large scale and made a fortune from them.

According to Greater Manchester Police, Spiby was found guilty of "conspiracy to manufacture and supply class C drugs, possession of two firearms and ammunition and obstruction of justice". Class C drugs in the UK include anabolic steroids, nitrous oxide and certain prescription medicines

Three other members of the group also had to serve long prison sentences - including Spiby's son.

Professional infrastructure

What is particularly absurd is that the alleged gang leader did not actually have any money worries. In 2010, Spiby won a lottery prize of 2.4 million pounds (around 2.54 million Swiss francs). But instead of retiring, he invested in criminal activities.

Investigators discovered a highly professional production facility in a rear building on Spiby's property near Wigan. Tens of thousands of tablets could be produced there every hour. In 2021, Spiby even went one better and bought an industrial building in Swinton to further increase production. Police later seized 2.6 million counterfeit diazepam tablets - a powerful sedative with a high potential for addiction - in one of the gang's vans.

According to the authorities, this shipment alone had an estimated street value of one to five million pounds. In total, the gang is said to have produced counterfeit pills worth up to 288 million pounds. The group also had several Kalashnikov machine guns and other firearms.

"Deeply involved in the drug supply chain"

Alex Brown from the Organized Crime Unit said: "They operated a fully industrialized drug manufacturing business capable of producing millions of counterfeit tablets containing a highly dangerous substance." He went on to emphasize: "The quantity of tablets we seized - together with the sophisticated machinery - shows how deeply this group was involved in the illegal drug supply chain."

Spiby himself denied any responsibility in court and stated that he had known nothing about the dealings. The court did not believe this version.