From test tubes and pill bottles to a cement mixer – these images show the inside of an illegal drugs factory used by two brothers for their illicit business.
Daniel and Matthew Hackland – who netted £500,000 through the sophisticated operation – are now behind bars after their drugs empire came crashing down.
Pictures from inside their fake pill factory in Northenden, south Manchester, show the incredible lengths they went to in order to make their business a success.
The brothers, from Wythenshawe, sold illicit drugs – including substances made in a cement mixer – to bodybuilders under the ‘D-Hacks’ brand, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Images taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show a makeshift laboratory filled with test tubes, beakers, tubs, sterliser units, a cement mixer and piles of cash.
Plastic boxes containing hundreds of bottles of tablets can be seen neatly stacked up and labelled in the lab, which is covered in white powder.
The brothers even went to the trouble of importing a pill press machine and hot plates from China.
Police finally discovered the operation during raids, including at the commercial unit at the Kingsley Trading Centre in Northenden, where they kept the drugs.
Officers found almost 170,000 pills, said to be worth more than £171,000, at the unit as well as nearly 2,000 bottles of injectable liquids.
The siblings- who drove cars worth £60,000 and wore watches worth £17,000 – sold unauthorised substances to customers across the country under the ‘D-Hacks’ brand.
Some of the supplements, steroids and other drugs such as Viagra were illegally imported, while others were homemade.
The illicit family-run business was exposed after one of the brothers’ customers collapsed.
A MHRA investigation found that older brother Daniel, 33, ran the ‘D-Hacks’ website.
Officials discovered tamoxifen, which is primarily used to treat breast cancer but which can also counter the side-effects of steroid abuse, was on offer.
The brothers, and Daniel’s wife Jenna, 29, are said to have benefited to the tune of £500,000 from the operation.
Manchester Crown Court last week heard how Daniel was responsible for production, but both brothers ran the supply operation from their homes and a rented office unit.
The siblings, and mum-of-two Jenna, used a variety of accounts to launder the proceeds of their crime.
But the scam began to unravel in March 2013 when one of their customers, a bodybuilder from south Wales, was hospitalised after consuming a chemical called ‘DNP’ he had purchased from ‘D-Hacks’, prompting an investigation.
The drug, which has been marketed as a slimming aid, was linked to a death of a student in Leeds in 2012.
The MHRA and the police carried out raids at Daniel and Jenna’s home in Baguley.
There they found almost 9,000 tablets, six bottles of injectable liquid, £49,000 in cash as well as 1,500 euros and 2,000 US dollars hidden in a safe in the loft.
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Around 900 syringes were found on a kitchen counter and high-value watches, including a Rolex, and a Louis Vuitton bag were discovered.
Two new luxury cars, a Nissan GTR and an Audi RS3, were parked on the driveway.
Police also visited Matthew’s former home in Stockport.
More medicines and more than 375,000 tablets said to be worth £135,000 as well as ‘D-Hacks’ labels were found there.
The commercial unit at the Kingsley Trading Centre in Northenden was also searched.
Analysis of Daniel’s phone revealed suppliers in US and China, according to prosecutors.
Daniel Hackland, of Baguley, admitted producing a controlled drug.
He and brother Matthew, 31, both of the same address, also pleaded guilty to possessing prescription-only medication with intent to supply; possessing unauthorised medicinal products with intent to supply; possessing class C drugs with intent to supply and money laundering.
Jenna Hackland, also of Baguley, pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Daniel was jailed for four-and-a-half years, while brother Matthew was imprisoned for three years.
Jenna Hackland was handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence, ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work and placed on a three-month electronically-monitored curfew.
The court heard how Daniel, who is said to regret his actions, had initially agreed to supply friends and associates before the operation grew.
Lee Hughes, defending Matthew, admitted his client, a former steroid user, had played a significant role, but stressed his responsibilities were limited to ‘packing and dispatching’.
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