Overview
- John Eric Spiby was sentenced in Bolton to 16 years and six months for conspiracy to manufacture and supply Class C drugs, firearms offenses and perverting the course of justice.
- Co-defendants received lengthy terms: his son John Colin Spiby got nine years, Lee Ryan Drury nine years nine months, and Callum Dorian twelve years.
- Police raided the network in 2022 as the group prepared to deliver 2.6 million counterfeit Diazepam tablets, having built a site capable of turning out tens of thousands of pills per hour.
- Investigators seized industrial presses, packaging lines and raw materials, as well as Kalashnikovs, Uzi-type weapons, other handguns, suppressors and ammunition.
- Evidence showed concealment through a sham supplements firm and a planned container shipment, with prosecutors estimating total production worth £57–£288 million.