Black Country garden shed factories ‘made 11 million fake Xanax pills’

A drugs gang based in the Black Country sold more than £4m of counterfeit Xanax anxiety pills made in garden sheds and garages, a court has heard.

The group operating in Tipton, Wolverhampton and Wednesbury included extended family members and friends who allegedly produced up to 11 million fake pills for sale on the so-called dark web between 2018 and 2019.

The details emerged at the start of the trial of two men alleged to have been involved in packaging and distributing the tablets and collecting ingredients.

Jordan Pitts, 25, of Hickman Road in Tipton and Bladen Roper, 24, of Powis Avenue, Tipton both deny assisting the operation.

The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court was told eight others had already pleaded guilty to offences including conspiracy to supply a Class C drug, money laundering and trademark infringement.

Xanax is a powerful tranquiliser used to treat anxiety and panic attacks.

It is not available on the NHS, but can be obtained in the UK through a private prescription.

It contains a medication called Alprazalam, a strong and addictive drug which has been sold on the black market, particularly in the US.

Jenny Joseph, for the prosecution, said the group had sought to manufacture and sell the fake tablets in exchange for cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin.

“They worked together to make and supply fake versions, using chemical powder, and pressing them into tablets using drug presses bought lawfully from a company in Oxfordshire,” she said.

“These were packed and sent via Royal Mail to customers in the UK and America.”

The court heard how the operation came to light after Xanax manufacturer Pfizer carried out a series of test purchases in January 2018.

These revealed that tablet parcels had been sent from Post Offices in the Black Country.

The jury was shown images taken from a Wolverhampton domestic garage and a garden shed in Tipton where the remnants of pill presses could be seen, and forensic traces of counterfeit drugs had been identified.

The prosecution said pills were found in 2018 in Jordan Pitt’s bedroom, which carried a Xanax stamp, while some packages recovered in the US had his personal details on them.

Investigations found that the group was headed by Brian Pitts, 28, of Beebee Road Wednesbury and his partner Katie Harlow, 26, of Lane Street, Bilston, who ran it from a base in Thailand, Ms Joseph added.

Pitts and Harlow admitted drugs and money laundering offences in earlier hearings.

Lee Lloyd, Deborah Bellingham, Anthony Pitts, Mark Bayley, Scott Tonkinson and Kyle Smith – all from the Black Country – are awaiting sentencing.

The trial is due to last up to four weeks.