Elderly Lottery Winner's £288m Drug Empire

Reference TimelineLast updated FEB 18
SUMMARY

John Eric Spiby, an 80-year-old man who won £2.4 million in the National Lottery in 2010, established and led a massive drug empire from his home in Wigan, producing millions of counterfeit Etizolam tablets disguised as diazepam between 2020 and 2022. The operation, valued at up to £288 million, was uncovered through compromised encrypted communications. In January 2026, Spiby was sentenced to 16 years and 6 months in prison, with his son and other associates also receiving significant jail terms.

Timeline

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2026

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The operational base of John Eric Spiby's drug empire was identified as a £600k country farmhouse in Astley, Greater Manchester.

via discover.swns.com

Court proceedings revealed that John Eric Spiby's £288 million drug empire also supplied firearms, and he was responsible for providing the premises and machinery used in the industrial-scale drug production.

via mirror.co.uk

John Eric Spiby's son, John Colin Spiby Jr., was sentenced to nine years in prison, correcting earlier reports of a 16-and-a-half-year sentence. John Eric Spiby Sr. was jailed for 16 and a half years.

via brusselstimes.com·salfordnow.co.uk

John Eric Spiby's drug empire collapsed after police intercepted a van carrying 2.5 million fake pills, with labs located at his cottage in Wigan and also in Salford, producing fake diazepam sold for approximately 65p each.

via manchestereveningnews.co.uk·liverpoolecho.co.uk

A market in Hartford, Los Bandoleros, has had its lottery, vape, and drug permits suspended by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. This action follows the arrest of an employee by the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of an investigation.

via fox61.com

2020

1 update

Story began · 6 years, 3 mo ago