On 14 March 2017, HBB announced he was looking for two resellers to take over operations: one for domestic purchases and one international.
This was no small feat. HBB claimed that he was sending pills to places as far flung as Australia, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia – and more than 5000 per day to North America.
He posted the job ads on an internet forum in public view:
“You must already be a well-established vendor, and capable of dealing with up to 100 orders (We peaked at 223 over one weekend). You will get better rates than retail customers, standard. Prices to be set by yourselves, but you will be able to keep them close to ours, with the addition of being the Official HBB reseller. If you think you fit the bill, message us from your VENDOR account so we know you have one,” he wrote.
HBB wrote that he was getting “too old” for the game. “Just taking a back seat,” he wrote in April. But he had also made a lot of money.
“My revenue on AB [AlphaBay] is over £1m,” he wrote to another user in May.
A couple of weeks later, he appeared to have completed the domestic handover to a vendor calling himself ‘Imperial Stormtrooper’.
But the net was already closing on the UK fake Xanax market.
A special division of Thames Valley police called the South East and Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) had opened a file on “the supply of Alprazolam which was predominately being sold as counterfeit Xanax”.
On 13 June 2017, they made their first arrests: a 30-year-old male and a 27-year-old female, arrested in Hampshire for the offences of supplying a controlled drug of Class C and Money Laundering. Both were released under investigation. According to a statement released to BBC Three, they also seized over 250,000 tablets which consisted of counterfeit Xanax, Sandoz GG249, Greenstone G3722 and Qualitest Pharmaceuticals Inc V2090.
There were only two vendors openly selling these quantities and varieties of medication on the darknet at the time: HBB and UKB.
“With a heavy heart I have to report HBB is currently missing,” wrote Imperial Stormtrooper on June 22.
The rumour, according to associates of HBB – although one that has never been confirmed by police – was that he had been busted.
“Sadly for you lot I will be out of bars within a couple of days and then there may not be any more from me unless HBB reappears with a reasonable explanation or ukbenzos reaches out to me,” continued Imperial Stormtrooper.
If HBB had been caught, police might have been able to identify UKB and Imperial Stormtrooper – unless they had been extremely careful to minimise contact and encrypt communications.
On 5 October 2017, a second series of arrests was made – this time for the production of drugs.
“Three men were arrested on the 5 October 2017: a 30-year-old and 25-year-old from Bedfordshire, and a 30-year-old from Kent, for the offences of Conspiracy to produce a controlled drug of Class C, Conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class C and Money laundering,” police told BBC Three. “All three have been released under investigation.”
Production of a Class C drug was a much more significant offence. If this was UKB, the kingpin of the counterfeit Xanax operation, then they had successfully brought down the key players. It was only a matter of time before charges were brought.
More than eight months after the first arrests, however, SEROCU says that no one has been charged.
Dark net vendors and forum users who say they know HBB claim he is on the run – and may have even fled the country. The police have not commented on what remains a live investigation.
The police operation appeared to end the mass production of alprazolam pills in the UK. Other dealers have come and gone, but buying fake Xanax is no longer as easy – or as cheap – as it once was.
Brad no longer has seizures, but he still goes to hospital for scans and check-ups. His entire friendship group has changed their approach to drugs.
“Everyone cleaned up their act,” he says. “The passing of a close friend made everyone realise we shouldn’t be doing that.”
“I was a version of myself I’d never want to be again.”
But across the UK, the story is far from over. The legacy of fake Xanax is that benzodiazepines have become a firm favourite for a new generation of drug users, in a patchwork drug culture that shows no signs of losing popularity anytime soon.
In recent weeks a new counterfeit alprazolam pill has emerged – this time mimicking a different pharmaceutical company. The same concerns about quality, consistency, adulteration and associated risks apply.
But these anxieties aren’t enough to keep teenagers from trawling the dark net for a way to keep the high going. And as long as they do, the dealers will be there, looking for ways to cash in.
*some names have been changed to protect the individuals.