Tarik Adam Mehmet Turan - aged 36 of High Street, Burniston, in Scarborough - was yesterday (April 24) sentenced at York Crown Court to 10 years and six months in prison for “being concerned in the supply of a variety of controlled drugs of Class A and Class C”.
Acting as an “unofficial pharmacist” and using the name “Dr T”, Turan “established a lucrative business in supplying prescription medication and ‘sesh’ drugs online using a WhatsApp group he had named ‘UK Pharmacy 2U’”, North Yorkshire police said.
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The “illegal online pharmacist” was also convicted for “possession of criminal property regarding £280,000 that he could not account for being paid into his various bank accounts”, they added.
According to the police, Turan would post an “extensive price list of medications and ‘recreational’ drugs” in the WhatsApp group chat – which included diazepam and cocaine –allowing customers “spread across the whole of the UK” to purchase drugs from him.
Acting as the “middleman”, he took orders and arranged deliveries of medications but “never [got] hands-on or [came] into contact with the drugs he was suppling”, police said.
“Criminal enterprise”
“Despite having no medical training”, Turan would respond to customers’ questions about “what the best ‘medication’ was for them” and would “then happily take payment and supply amounts far outweighing what would be clinically safe”, they added.
His actions were “identified” by police following the arrest of “individuals who were purchasing drugs from him”, they said, adding that “mobile phone seizures resulted in the police getting sight of Turan’s WhatsApp group and the messages being exchanged”.
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Following Turan’s arrest in May 2023, police seized his phone and “officers gained access that showed the full extent of Turan’s criminal enterprise”, they said.
He “provided no account to the police across two interviews” and “was eventually charged in April 2024 with 33 offences of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs ranging from Class A to Class C and possession of criminal property”, police added.
“Vast profits”
Investigating officer DC Darrel Temple of Scarborough CID said that the sentence given to Turan was “a clear message that drug dealing will not be tolerated and that, eventually, those involved will face serious consequences”.
“Turan thought he was safe operating an online business of supplying every drug you could imagine and making vast profits from it,” he said, adding that “he was actively supplying medication that should only be prescribed by a qualified medical professional [but he] is anything but this”.
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“It is apparent from the way Turan operated that he has a sufficient skill set to run a successful business,” Temple said.
“He now has time in prison to hopefully reflect on this and put his skills to better and law-abiding use when released,” he added.
It comes after the medicines watchdog revealed in January that it seized more than 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines amounting to a “potential street value” of more than £40 million in 2024.
