How Elderly UK Lottery Winner’s $3.3M Jackpot Fueled a $400M Drug Empire

Posted on: February 2, 2026, 08:30h. 

Last updated on: February 2, 2026, 08:32h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Lottery windfall bankrolled industrial-scale counterfeit Valium production 
  • Millions of fake pills containing etizolam flooded  illicit drug market
  • EncroChat messages exposed operation linking father, son, and armed accomplices

An aged British lottery winner who invested his £2.4 million (US$3.3 million) windfall into building a $400 million counterfeit drug empire has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

UK lottery winner, counterfeit Valium, etizolam pills, EncroChat drug bust, Greater Manchester Police
A mugshot of John Eric Spiby, who built a vast counterfeit drug empire after hitting it big on the UK National Lottery, above. (Image: Greater Manchester Police)

John Eric Spiby, 80, equipped his cottage in a quiet, rural area near Bolton, northwest England, with an “industrial‑scale tablet manufacturing set-up capable of producing tens of thousands of tablets per hour,” Greater Manchester Police said.

Assisted by his son, John Colin Spiby, and two accomplices, Spiby flooded the illicit drug supply chain with fake Valium pills laced with etizolam. This is a sedative prescribed in some parts of the world for treating insomnia and anxiety disorders, although it is banned in both the UK and US. High doses of etizolam can dangerously depress the central nervous system, leading to unconsciousness, respiratory failure, and death.

Windfall to Downfall

The octogenarian offender, who won big on the UK National Lottery in 2010 when he was about 65, was described as the ringleader of the group and had a “significant” criminal record, according to court documents.

The four men denied charges including conspiracy to produce and supply Class C drugs, conspiracy to supply firearms, possession of firearms and ammunition, and perverting the course of justice, though one gang member, Lee Drury, pleaded guilty mid-trial.

The operation was uncovered after French law enforcement intercepted encrypted conversations on EncroChat, a Europe-based messaging service often described as the “WhatsApp for criminals,” which was infiltrated by a continent-wide police operation in 2020.

UK police began surveillance on the group, and when officers raided a hired van, they found 2.6 million counterfeit pills with a street value of up to £5.2 million (US$ 7 million). They also raided multiple properties, seizing firearms, ammunition, cash, and industrial tablet manufacturing machinery.

Police estimated the street value of the drugs produced by the gang to be up to £288 million ($400 million).

Life of Crime

“Despite your lottery win, you continued to live your life of crime beyond what would be a normal retirement age,” Judge Nicholas Clarke of Bolton Crown Court told Spiby before sentencing.

Spiby Jr. was sentenced to nine years in prison. The two accomplices, Callum Dorian and Drury, received nine and 12 years, respectively.

“These four individuals showed absolutely no regard for human life or public safety,” Detective Inspector Alex Brown, from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organized Crime Group, said in a statement. “All they were interested in was lining their own pockets with significant financial gain.”